


Fit for a King

by AstronomerAlways



Category: Recess (Cartoon)
Genre: After all these years the seeds of this ship have begun to sprout, Boys being stupid about their feelings but it's mostly TJ on that end, Brought over from fanfiction net, I'm proud of myself for that, M/M, This is old so the quality of writing is not as good imo, ey I have to be proud of something ha amirite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:20:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 30,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24621514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AstronomerAlways/pseuds/AstronomerAlways
Summary: Out of nowhere King Bob's most loyal subject isn't acting so loyal, and he wants to know why. It's better and cuter than it sounds. A series of one shots
Relationships: King Bob/T. J. Detweiler
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

TJ was having a very bad day, for a variety of reasons. But because he didn't want today to be any more frustrating than it already was, he shortened then down to about two. The first involved having to go to the dodge ball wall after he had refused King Bob's orders to retrieve his baseball cards after Ms. Finster confiscated them. He had told King Bob, rather loudly gaining the attention of the entire playground, that he had better things to do than get some cards back for some guy whose guards could probably do it themselves. Along with saying it loudly, he was pointing his finger at the King, and the whole act was taken as talking back disrespectfully and like in any monarchy, he was punished for his defiance.

The second reason for his bad day was that his parents were going out for the night and wouldn't be back until 10:30, and since his sister was out on a school trip to New York, he was going to get a babysitter. He tried convincing his mother that he didn't need one, and that he could take care of himself for a few hours. But then his mother reminded him of the incident that happened the last time they trusted him alone in the house for an evening. Said incident involved two broken windows, a room that needed new carpet, and the horror of coming home to red all over the walls with knives on the floor, only to find that it was only ketchup, and he just made a mess in the kitchen. After being reminded of that, he knew there wasn't going to be a way out of this.

So he waited in the kitchen while his parents were getting ready to leave. He was hoping that he would get a fun babysitter like in the cartoons and movies. But he knew that chance was slim because those were just fictional accounts to make it seem as if babysitters were actually fun in the attempt to ease kids fear about something they should be very afraid of.. Instead of one of those, he'd probably get some old lady who never had children and lashed out on kids through a massive amount of chores, hard rules, and corporal punishment for not following those rules.

His questions were about to be answered, because at exactly 4:30 the doorbell rang. He didn't get up until his mother called him to come meet the person who was going to be watching him. Walking towards the front door, his day promised to get worse when he saw King Bob, crownless standing in the doorway.

"What is he doing here?" TJ asked him mother.

"He's going to watch you tonight," His mother told him.

"But he's almost my age!"

"From what his parents have told me, Robert is very responsible."

"But mom—"

"No buts, TJ! He's going to watch you tonight and that's that." Folding his arms, he leaned against the wall listening to his mother tell his _babysitter_ what she felt he needed to know. After a few minutes his parents said their goodbyes and left the two boys. Sending a glare King Bob's way, he turned around and headed back into the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" King Bob asked him as he walked away.

"To my tree house," TJ told him. "I don't wanna be near you."

"Hold on," He said, following the fourth grader to the backyard. "Your mom said you were supposed to be doing homework!"  
"Yeah right," Said TJ. "I'm not listening to you." He climbed up the tree and went into his tree house, locking the door. Opening a chest in the corner, he took out a comic book and started to read, waiting for King Bob to go back in the house. Taking solace in today being Friday, he breathed a sigh of relief. At least he would be able to hang out with his friends for the next two days.

But at the moment he was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of the lock to the door being fumbled with.

"You're not getting in!" He yelled. His words proved wrong, because after a few more seconds, the door was opened and King Bob climbed in.

"So this is it, huh?" King Bob said looking around. "I gotta say, I expected better."

"How are you my babysitter?" TJ snapped at him.

"My mom ran into your mom and the super market and I was there with her," The King explained. "Honestly I didn't want to do this either, but you've been acting rather defiant towards me lately and I want to know why."

"I don't want to be under your thumb like everyone else," He said. "I don't need to listen to you. It's not the law!"

"It is on the playground."

"So? We're only out there for an hour!"

"Well that wasn't a problem a week ago. Why is it now?"

"I'd rather be doing homework than this," Putting down his comic book he opened the door and climbed out, headed back into the house and leaving King Bob by himself to wonder what exactly was his problem. The crazy monkey-boy had never shown this much insolence towards him, unless he had a fair reason, like making the whole playground build a pyramid or something. But he was quite sure he hadn't done anything to provoke this sort of reaction this time around. He hadn't made a new law or spoke to the students in a while, so he knew he wasn't the problem.

Maybe he was just going through a rebellious phase and in another week the monkey-boy would be his old self again. No, that couldn't be. The guy WAS the rebellious phase.

Not having enough information, he went inside the house badger the fourth grader some more. Inside he found TJ at the kitchen table actually doing homework. But from what he could see, he was having some trouble.

"What do you want?" TJ asked him not looking up from his work.

"Having trouble? You know I've been through the fourth grade already. I could probably help."

"I don't need it." He said erasing the numbers on his paper.

"Are you sure?"

"Fine! Can you please help me?" For the next half hour, King Bob helped him with his math homework, which only involved turning improper fractions into mixed fractions and vice versa. Now that he was in the sixth grade, it seemed like a painfully easy task for King Bob. However when he had shared his thoughts about how he couldn't believe TJ was having so much trouble with it, the hostility, which had started to lessen, came back. He quickly apologized and the work was finished. Ten minutes before they finished, a frozen pizza was placed in the oven. Now they were waiting for twenty more minutes to pass until it was ready to eat.

Meanwhile, King Bob was noting how much _nicer_ TJ was being towards I'm after he helped him. It seemed odd; did he feel like he wasn't helping him much on the playground or something like that? It confused him, but for now he didn't say anything, because he knew that the night would go a hell of a lot faster if he wasn't getting death glares from the kid who was basically second in command to him. So they sat in the living room, searching for something decent to watch on TV.

For TJ, the day was actually better than he thought it would be. He got his homework done in half the time, and that left more time to relax and forget about learning for the rest of the night. He still didn't want King Bob as a babysitter, but considering that having anyone else meant ANYONE else, he'd rather have him here. But that didn't change the fact that he did not want to take orders from him. He was King on the playground, not his house. Hell, he was only two years older than him! He was more fitted to be his older brother than babysitter. Then again, older siblings sometimes watch the younger kids….

When his friends had asked about him talking back to King Bob the way he did, he asked them how they could stand being bossed around by him all the time. They had said that he didn't _really_ boss them around, just mostly make laws. Sure, he occasionally made the entire student body do something completely crazy, but those times were few and far between. That was when he told his friends that King Bob wasn't _his_ King in front of them, denouncing his name. They of course asked him why he would do such a thing. After all, King Bob had called him his most loyal subject. He said that dogs are _loyal_ and that he wasn't some lap dog of his. Before his friends could say anything else, the bell signaling the end of recess rang, and they headed back inside for class.

"Pizza's ready!" He was brought out of his thought by King Bob calling him into the kitchen.

The two of them sat at the table in silence eating their piece of pizza. It was now 6:11, and the two of them were both wondering how the time flied by so fast.

"So what's bothering you?" King Bob asked him.

"What do you mean?"

"You've been acting really defiant towards me lately, and that's not like you at all."

"I don't," He paused and stared at his plate. "I don't want to be bossed around by you anymore."

"I didn't think I was," Said King Bob.

"Well you were!"

"Is that why you've been acting like this? Is it really?" Before he answered, TJ looked up at him, wonder who exactly King Bob thought he was. Sure, he was king of the playground, and to the average kid that was impressive. But for the next few hours he was nothing but a babysitter, and all he had to do was make sure he didn't get in trouble. This entire conversation was pointless in his mind.

"Yeah, it is," He answered. After putting his plate in the sink, he walked out the kitchen, towards the stairs. "I'm going to my room."

Taking advantage of his time alone, King Bob took the rest of his pizza and ate in the living room, playing what just happened in his head. That look that he had sent him; the look in his eyes King Bob _knew_ that look. After a while of being King, he learned how to read people's emotions and what they really meant behind their words just by the look on their face and eyes. And he had seen that look once before.

It was two months ago, and Mary, his fanning girl, had given him that same look. A few days later she had asked him out on a date. He had politely said no; she was a cute girl and all, but just not his type. And now, Detweiller gave him that same look. Then it was like a light bulb turned on in his head.

"Oh I get it now," He said to himself. "Now I get it." With a smirk he decided not to bother the boy for the rest of the night, and that he would talk to him on Monday instead.

~*~MONDAY~*~

Sitting on his throne King Bob waited. A few minutes ago he had sent his guards to bring TJ to him. When one of the guards asked if there was a reason for it, he just told made up a lie off the top of his head.

With everyone on the playground remembering what happened last week between him and TJ, when he was dragged to the top of the jungle gym, there was a large crowd behind him. He was hoping that they would have a conversation without so many listening ears, but that didn't look like it was going to be the case. Once his guards made it to the top, King Bob told them to leave. Shocked at such a request, the guards had refused, saying that they were not going to leave their king alone with a disrespectful student. King Bob told them that he had everything under control, and if they didn't leave, he would get new guards. With that they left.

"Why'd you have me dragged up here?" TJ asked him, picking himself up from the floor.

"We need to talk," Said King Bob. "I know."

"Know what?"

"About what you really think about me."

"…R-really?"

"Yes. And I must say, you have an odd way of showing it."

"So are you gonna send me to the dodge ball wall or something," He asked. "'cause I really want to get back to ignoring you."

"No. I wanna talk about this."

"What's there to talk about?" He said throwing his arms up then following him. "You obviously don't feel the same way so can we drop this and go back to me not listening to you?"

"How do you know that?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Fortunately for the two of them, the conversation they were having wasn't loud enough for the prying ears below to hear. Though they all were very interested in what the two of them were talking about. The guards were on their toes, ready to react if anything bad happened.

"On more than on occasion you have captured my attention," Said King Bob. "And I can't say that the feeling isn't somewhat mutual. But I must tell you now that there can't be anything more to our relationship other than a king and his follower."

"Well if you feel the same way then why not?"

"I'm a sixth grader and you're a fourth grader."

"But that's only two years!" Said TJ.

"I know two years doesn't seem like a lot," King Bob said. "But right now it is. Next year I'll be in middle school, and you'll still be here. And when you do reach middle school, I'll be in high school. We'll be at different points in our lives that cannot coexist."

"But that's so stupid!"

"That's just how it has to be." Said King Bob. Approaching the throne, TJ prepared to say something. One of those big speeches of his seemed like a good idea, but at the moment he was speechless. Instead he clenched and unclenched his fists in frustration, and then he gave the king a light punch on his right arm. The crowd below gasped, and his guard were climbing the jungle gym like lighting.

"Did I say come up here?" King Bob yelled down at them as the climbed,

"Well no—"

"So don't come here! I have this under control!" Not sure of what to do, the guard descended the jungle gym. Once they were at the bottom, King Bob got out of his throne just as TJ turned away from him. "Look, if it makes you feel any better, maybe we can try in high school."

"Why then?"

"Because we'll both be there. If we both feel the same way as we both do now, then maybe we could give it a chance. But we can't right now."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"Fine," Turning back around, TJ held his hand out and the both of them shared a handshake before he headed back down. But on his way he walked back to the throne and pulled something out of his pocket. "Here."

"What is it?" King Bob asked him. He took what was in his hands and looked at it. "My baseball cards…"

"I got them back before you asked." Said TJ. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah, you too." King Bob sat back in his chair and watched as the crazy monkey-boy took the slide to the bottom.

In the next few days things returned back to normal. King Bob didn't experience any more hostility from TJ, who was soon more than happy to carry out requests from it. And while things did return to normal, King Bob hoped that his most loyal subject still kept those same feelings. After all, high school was a long ways away.


	2. Chapter 2

Sitting on his throne above the playground, King Bob watched as an interesting scene played out below. He was watching what looked like to be a dispute between Detweiller and his friends, and from what he could see, it wasn't going well. The monkey-boy was yelling at his friends and after a few minutes marched away. There wasn't much for the king to do today so was free to wonder about what had just happened. In the past year, he found that this particular group was very close, and that it took something extremely serious to make them fight. He also learned that the six of them were very loyal to him, and considering that anything could go wrong at any moment, preferred for them to be together rather than apart.

"King Bob?" The monarch was snapped out his thoughts by TJ who was climbing to the top of the jungle gym.

"What is it, Detweiller?"

"Can I talk to you for a minute? I need some advice."

"Very well," Said the king. "Guards, go talk a walk. We need a minute alone." Nodding, his guards took the slide down to the ground, leaving the two boys alone. "What's on your mind?"

"Do you ever feel like quitting?" TJ asked him. "Does being in charge of the entire playground ever become so demanding that you just want to drop everything and quit?"

"What are you getting at?" Asked King Bob. "Do you feel like that?"

"Yeah," He said. "It's just, me and my friends we've been going through with plans a lot lately and I have to think them up. I know it doesn't look like it but it's hard to come out with them. It takes a lot of thinking and energy from me, and since we've been doing them back-to-back for the last two weeks I'm exhausted. I was hoping not to do any today, but the first thing they want to do when we get out on the playground is one of my plans. I lost it and started yelling at them about how they should try doing it and see how easy it is. Then they said only I was good at it. That's when I said I was giving it up and walked away."

"Do you really want to stop?" The King asked him.

"Part of me does," He said. "Part of me just wants to stop and not do it ever again."

"Why would that be?"

"Because all I feel like I am to them is some kid who can crank out idea's like a machine. I'm not a machine, I'm their friend."

"Well, to answer your question, yes. I do feel like quitting sometimes."

"So why don't you?"

"Come here, Detweiller." King Bob stood out of his seat as TJ approached his throne. "Sit."

"In your seat?"

"That's right." Nervously, TJ sat in King Bob's throne. From that seat he could see the entire playground below.

"What do you feel when you're in that seat?" King Bob asked him.

"Power. And responsibility," Said TJ. "I feel like I have control over everything that happens on the playground and that everyone is looking up to me."

"That's exactly how I feel every day," Said the king. "You see Detweiller, you and me are a lot alike. We both have a group of people that look to us when they don't know what to do, and we both give them answers. And for doing that, we both deserve a break now and then. We have the right to ask them to ease up on us just as they have the right to ask us to do what we do best. There are going to be times when we don't feel like doing what had been bestowed upon us, even though it's become second nature to us. But if we don't, things would descend into chaos. So you go back to your friends, and you tell them what you've told me. And if they're really your friends they'll understand."

"Thanks, King Bob," Said TJ as he got out of his seat.

"No problem. And if they're still giving you grief, send them up here." TJ nodded before taking the slide to the bottom. King Bob took his seat back in his throne and watch as the monkey-boy walked back over to his friends and talk. He could see them begin to apologize to one another and soon they were running off to play. Smiling to himself, King Bob was satisfied that he helped a small part of the playground return to normality.


	3. Chapter 3

There were days where King Bob wasn't even sure he was King. Sure, he had the title, crown, scepter, and throne, but it seemed that the playground would run itself just fine if he just left one day. But right now he was focusing on how he didn't quite feel like the King.

On more than one occasion, he found that Detweiler was able to assemble the whole school to rally against him if he made a law none of them liked, and part of that scared him. If some fourth grade kid was able to veto a law so _easily_ than it couldn't take much more effort to overthrow the King and take over. It's not like he would be met with opposition by the student body either; the guy was well liked around the playground and was known for doing what was the best for everyone.

But King Bob knew that wasn't likely to happen because he hadn't tried to do so before, and the monkey-boy showed respect for him whenever they talked. And where King Bob was some crazy idea or law, Detweiler did something just as crazy. The King might've made the whole playground build a pyramid, but the monkey-boy took over the playground's economy in three days with no mercy making life miserable for the students. Though that didn't change the fact that sometimes he didn't feel like he was in control.

He felt a bit out of touch with the happenings of students below. Sure, they occasionally came to him to settle a dispute, but besides that, he didn't really interact with them. It's not that he didn't want to get to know them, but with the amount of time he was to spend governing the playground, there isn't any left to. He considered it to be a weakness. And even though his weakness was Detweiler's strength, the kid hasn't really shown any ability, let alone interest, to govern the playground. But the King was sure he would be able to if he absolutely had to; the principal for a day incident convinced him of that. But he was too interested in playing with his friends.

So King Bob began to think that maybe in some cosmic sort of way that they both ran the school. While he made the laws and made sure those laws were followed, TJ dealt with the students and their interests, maybe even serving as their representative.

With that, King Bob leaned back in his throne satisfied with the conclusion he had come to. He was the King of the playground, and Detweiler was the King of the Students.


	4. Chapter 4

The last day of the school year finally rolled around, and the students were more than really for the last bell of the day to ring, even though the day had just started. Preparing his goodbye speech, King Bob paced on the top of the jungle gym. Today was the day he was going to hand over his crown to Freddie. Even though he would crown him during the first recess, he was still the King for today.

Part of him was nervous; middle school was something no kid could quite prepare for, and he had grown accustomed to his position in hierarchy. Next year he would be at the bottom of the chain again, and two years after that he would be at the bottom _once more._ Watching the kids below him play for the last time of the year, he remembered something he said he would do. Taking the slide he made his way to the bottom and looked around for one person in particular. Spotting him, he walked over and got his attention by tapping him on the shoulder.

"Detweiler, we need to talk." Said the King.

"Um, okay…" Walking away, the King lead him away from his friends and to the side of the school where no one was around. "Any reason we're back here, King Bob?"

"Yes," He said. "As you know, I am leaving for the seventh grade."

"Yeah, and heard you're naming _Freddie_ as the new King."

"Is that a problem?"

"Kinda. I'm sort of disappointed because, you know, me and my friends thought I would be a shoo-in for King. I mean, I know I'm a fourth grader and all, but it's not like it hasn't been done before."

"You're right, it has been done. And at first I was going to. But I have my reasons for not choosing you." Said King Bob.

"Why? You've seen how I can handle the playground when you've lost your mind! Why wouldn't you?"

"Because," The King said softly. "You can't handle the power that comes with it. Remember the monstickers incident? And when you were principal? You went mad with power. Imagine what would happen if you had the entire playground at your disposal? You're a great leader monkey-boy, but only when you don't have much power to begin with. So I choose Freddie."

"Those are really good reasons I guess," Said TJ. "But I'm still disappointed."

"Don't be," Said King Bob. "Just make sure he doesn't go crazy, rally the students when he makes some dumb law, and you'll be the one who's really in charge, just like with me. Now, I called you back here for something else."

"What?"

"I'm going to middle school. After this, I probably won't see you until you reach high school. That's four years."

"We'll see each other," Said TJ. "This town isn't _that_ big. We're bound to run into each other at some time."  
"And while that is true," Said the King. "I feel that a proper parting gift is in order."

"Like what?" King Bob smiled and leaned down to his height, placing a soft kiss on the younger boy's lips. It lasted for a few seconds before the king pulled away.

"Like that." He said. "Now you remember that, 'cause four years is a very long time, and I don't want you to forget me. Okay?"

"O-okay." Said TJ as he was still trying to process what had just happened.

"You better get back to your friends," said King Bob. "They're probably wondering where you are." Together they walked from the side of the school and once they were in sight of everyone they parted ways; King Bob to his throne and TJ to his friends.


	5. Chapter 5

Being twelve years old suddenly proved to be very difficult for TJ. It wasn't the added responsibly, or the ungodly amount of homework he had to deal with; that he could handle. It was the fact that on some days, his own body was his worst enemy.

This became apparent for the first time when he and his friends were walking home from school one day and happened to run into the former King Bob; he was now going simply by Robert now. They all were having a really good conversation, catching up and all. But since the sun decided to hit Robert's face in a precise angle from TJ's point of view, he, well, became aware that his pants suddenly didn't fit quite right. Luckily on that day, they all had to carry a large amount of books home, and he was able to use them to cover up his embarrassment. Adding to his luck, he found a way to take care of that once he arrived home.

He had told himself that it wasn't his fault, mostly Robert's for looking the way he did, with his shaggy yet neat black hair and his muscles and all. In his mind it just had to be, people just don't go from looking like anybody to _that_ in two years. Granted, even he had changed; TJ had let his hair grow down to his shoulders despite his mother's attempts of getting it cut, traded in his now outgrown jacket for an open red button up, and his baby fat had receded, but still!

And now today, he, his friends, and all the other sixth graders were sitting in the auditorium, listening to eighth graders from Third Street Middle School talk to them about what to expect once they arrive in middle school. TJ was hoping (read: praying) that Robert was not part of the group that was going to talk. Unfortunately Robert was, and his day just got a little worse.

He listened as Robert spoke, and wondered when exactly did he obtain the voice of God. Though the speech was dull and boring, he found it considerably easier to listen to with _that_ voice. And how does Robert look better than the last time he saw him? He just had to be doing this on purpose, he just had to. There wasn't any other excuse. Then the worse happened. Out of the entire crowd, their eyes met, and as much as TJ tried to look away, Robert tried twice as hard to keep their eyes locked. And it worked. After a minute of staring at one another, he became aware once again that his body was working against him, and that his pants were not fitting quite right. Crossing his legs, he forced himself to close his eyes to avoid looking at him. Once his voice finally stopped, TJ felt safe enough to open his eyes.

After a few more speeches they all we're allowed to go back to their classrooms and continue that day. Adding one last bit of bad luck to his day, TJ's class passed some of the eighth graders as they walked down the hallway, including Robert who felt the need to send a butterflies-in-stomach inducing wink his way.


	6. Chapter 6

Sitting in a quiet booth at Kelso's after school were Robert and TJ. Somehow, Robert had gotten TJ's phone number. He called and asked the younger boy to meet him at Kelso's the next day. TJ was willing to argue that Robert didn't ask and that it was more like a command. Either way, they met at Kelso's.

Each of them ordered a smoothie, and slowly drank them as they held a conversation about the happenings of Third Street Elementary. Although he had graduated two years ago, King Bob still felt a connection to the school; it was hard not to after being King.

"So tell me, monkey-boy," Robert started. "How does it feel to be King?" After all these years, TJ now felt it to be demeaning being called the name Robert had long ago bestowed on him. The only thing that kept him from saying anything about it was that he still felt as if Robert was King Bob. By the time he reached sixth grade TJ had finally been named King of the playground. This was met with great approval of the student body, and he was more than happy to take the title.

"Oh, yeah. About that," TJ said before taking a sip of his smoothie. "I quit."

"You WHAT?" Robert looked at him with disbelief. "You _quit?_ What do mean you quit?"

"I quit," Said TJ. "I quit last Tuesday. Well, I didn't really _quit_ per sea."

"You better not have!" Robert yelled. "I had to do a lot of persuading to convince Freddie that you were the only one fit!"

"I'm still King, but now I'm only on duty if there's a crisis," He said. "I wanna spend time with my friends, you know?"

"Okay, I understand. You enjoy that time too Detweiler. There are going to be plenty of crises for you to handle."

"What about you King Bob? What's going with you?"

"You don't have to call me King Bob anymore," said Robert. "I'm not the King anymore."

"Sorry, I'm just so used to calling you that. So what's going on with you?"

"Nothing much. A bunch of girls keep asking me out…"

"W-what?" TJ stuttered.

"Something wrong _monkey-boy?_ " He teased. "Is that jealousy I hear in your voice?"

"N-no! I'm not jealous," The younger boy said. "Out of curiosity, did you accept a-any offers?" Robert smiled. He had lied about a lot of girls asking him out. Sure, a couple did, but not a lot. He only said that to see how Detweiler would react. He hasn't been around his former subject enough lately to see if he had those same feelings he had in fourth grade. Of course, Robert still had those feelings, even though it was odd at times; how many 8th graders have a crush on a 6th grader? But still at the end of the day, it felt _right._

"I told them I was taken," Robert told him with a toothy smile. He watched as the tension in Detweiler's face ease away.

"A-are you still, you know," TJ asked while messing with his hat. "W-waiting for me?" Before he gave an answer, Robert took a sip of his smoothie. He looked up at the boy across the table and gave a small smile, a lock of hair covering part of his eyes, and gave a butterflies-in-stomach inducing wink. He chuckled lightly at the blush growing on the younger's freckled cheeks.

"Does that answer your question?"

"Y-yeah," He said. "It does."

"Good," Said the former King. He quickly drank the last bit of his smoothie before standing up. "I gotta go. Teachers gave me a lot of homework tonight." With a wave goodbye they parted ways, walking back to their separate lives.


	7. Chapter 7

It was the first day of high for TJ and his friends. A few months ago they were more than excited to start. But recently they were informed of the ritual that was bestowed upon the freshman. The upperclassmen boys (mostly sophomores and juniors; seniors felt it was immature) had a ritual of finding all the freshman boys and initiating the 'welcome pat.'

The 'welcome pat' involved a wooden paddle being connected to the freshman's bottoms repeatedly while the upperclassmen recited the three rules they need to know to survive their first year.

So they were a little afraid of going inside. This didn't include Gretchen and Spinelli because while the upperclassmen boys took part, the girls, who have matured faster, thought it was stupid.

Not knowing his way around the new school made it nearly impossible for TJ to come up with a plan. He did eventually create one that consisted of running to each of their destinations as fast as their legs would allow, not stopping to apologize to anyone they bumped into. Vince pointed out that the hazers wouldn't stop until they've 'welcomed' every single freshman and once they were done with the others, they all would be looking for them. TJ countered that argument by stating that they needed the exercise anyways.

Meanwhile in the back of the school were a group of tenth and eleventh graders all with wooden paddles in hand. The eleventh grades were sharing their methods of welcoming to the younger grades. Part of this group was Robert, who wasn't originally going to take part; he felt it to be too barbaric. But once we realized that the monkey-boy would be part of the incoming freshman class, he decided to; he had his own reasons.

"This is going to be sweet," Said Lawson, now a tenth grader. "And I'm going to enjoy it more now that Detweiler and his friends are targets this year!"  
"That's fine," Said Robert. "Just leave to the monkey-boy to me."

"Oh I get it," Lawson said. Traumatize him more by having the former king 'welcome' him. Good plan!" Robert nodded and the others continued to exchange methods until the bell rang. With a loud cheer they all ran inside looking for freshman to enthusiastically welcome.

While the others ran, Robert walked with a plan in mind. He knew that Detweiler doesn't know his way around the school yet, so he had that advantage. Still, it was going to be hard trying to think of where he would go. But he had a study period at 11, so he was going to use that to find him. Walking through the hallways, the sounds of paddling and shrieks were heard.

~*~*~LATER~*~*~

It was the nearing the end of the day, and TJ thought that he had made it scot-free. That was until he was walking to his study period and felt someone was following him. He brushed it off at first as it being his paranoia, but then there was the sound of something wooden being patted against a hand and along with footsteps. That sent him running down the hall.

After taking several turns and going into the empty gym, he paused and checked if he was still being followed. Once he heard the footsteps getting closer he ran into the locker room, and then scolded himself for making a stupid mistake. Soon he reached a dead end and turned around to face his assailant. But he let out a sigh of relief when he was met with the sight of Robert.

"Jesus, Robert. You scared the hell out of me," Said TJ. "What's going on?"

"Initiation," Robert told him. He held his paddle behind his back, out of sight.

"Well I don't have to worry. I know you're not going to do anything." He walked towards the exit, relieved of his fear. But he was stopped by Robert grabbing his shoulder,

"Did I say that?" Robert asked him.

"No. But you're not, right?" Robert looked at him and smiled before pushing him against the wall, bending his arms behind his back.

"Well that wouldn't be fair would it?" Robert whispered in his ear. "The others have to go through it. You should too. Now, rule number one," Robert pulled back the paddle he help and roughly connected it to the younger boy's bottom with a resounding smack.

"Ouch! Hey that hurt!" TJ yelled at him. He received a response via the paddle against his bottom, harder than before.

"I didn't say you could talk! You speak when I tell you to!" The former king rubbed the paddle against the youngers leg while he pressed himself against his back. "Now," He whispered. "Rule one, you have no power. Your jus a lowly freshman put here for our amusement. If you try to change that, and I know _you_ would _monkey-boy,_ then we'll all take turns doing what I am now. And some of them would just _love_ the opportunity. Rule two," He raised and landed the paddle again. "We are in charge. You are at the bottom at the food chain. If we want you to do something, you're going to do it. 'No' isn't an option."

"This is bullshit," Said TJ. The sound of a paddle then echoed thoughout the halls as Robert repeatedly beat it against his backside. Part of Robert was enjoying this; having power over someone, something he only felt in the sixth grade, felt nice to have again. And there wasn't a chance in hell he was going to let it go.

"What did I say about speaking out of line, _monkey boy_?" He demanded. When he didn't get his answer he took a fist full of his hair and tugged, making him cry out in pain. "What did I say?"

"Speak when you tell me to!" Said TJ. "Is this really necessary?" _SMACK_

"Yes it is. Number three," Robert said in his ear. "Don't _ever_ bring anything new or nice to school, 'cause if you do," He paused, using his free hand to grab the younger boys hip, pulling him closer to him. "And it's something we like, we'll take it and you won't be able to do anything about it. Got it?"

"Uh, y-yeah I got it…" Said TJ. "Robert, you're poking me…."

"What?"

"You're _poking_ me.."

"Oh, sorry." Robert pulled himself away and looked at the paddle in his hand.

"That really hurt," Said TJ. "Where you getting off on this?"

"S-shut-up!" Robert snapped. "Besides, you were too! Just look at yourself!" TJ's vision went south and he saw exactly was Robert was talking about. "You _enjoyed_ it just as much as I did! You're the last person I'd expect to be into _this_ sort of thing."

"….W-we're late for class," TJ said, embarrassed. "What time is it?" Before Robert could answer the last bell of the day rang.

"See you later _monkey-boy._ " Robert walked away, leaving the locker room and a very confused TJ behind.


	8. Chapter 8

After the events of the first day of high school, TJ was pretty damn sure that he did not want to see Robert for a very long time. The son of a bitch confused the hell out of him Monday, and once the weekend came he was happy to get some rest. Unfortunately for him nobody told the freshman that the welcome pat was only the first part of the initiation.

While the first part involved a simply finding a freshman and using a paddle, the second part involved finding the same freshman, pinning him on the ground, managing to put a leash around their neck with a tag that said 'property of *insert name here*', dragging said freshman around with them all weekend, and making them do whatever they wanted until school started again on Monday.

In order to keep some of the freshman from making a run for it when their guard were let down, the upperclassmen continued to carry their paddles with them as a form of punishment, and a few of them went as far as carrying a few more things as well as the paddle. Included in this group was Robert.

Robert innocently walked down the street with a smug look on his face. This was due to the monkey-boy being forced to follow him wherever he decided to go because of the leash wrapped tightly around his neck. While Robert was having the time of his life, TJ was fighting back the urge to commit premeditated murder.

He didn't even want to go outside today; he had planned on sleeping in. But _something_ made him get up early and take a walk, and ten minutes later he unexpectedly was tackled. Still, he agreed that he needed the walk. After Robert accused him of actually _liking_ what he did, he wanted to yell at him about how that wasn't true. But he couldn't because the words were trapped in his throat. By the time he was able to talk it was too late.

He only had himself to talk about the issue to. TJ's first response to whether or not he enjoyed it was a simple no. Maybe Robert liked it, and that was fine; everybody has their own kink. But it sure as hell wasn't his. But then there's the whole issue about his body not agreeing with him.

Okay, maybe he liked it a little bit, just a little. But he wasn't _that_ into it like Robert was. Was it really his fault though? After liking the guy for five years, was it really _that_ unexpected? Besides it was the first sexual thing he'd been through with another person, and those were bound to be _exciting_ , right? That didn't mean he liked it in that way.

The only thing he was sure of at the moment was that he was lying to himself.

Yeah, it was sort of fun in its own sick way. And yeah he would like to do it again. Hell, it was more than fun; it was the most exhilarating thing the cap wearer had ever been through and he wanted to explore more into it.

But he wasn't going to let King Bob know. That would give him too much power. The guy was a good foot taller than him, and TJ was sure Robert would use that to his advantage. Even if he was already being dragged around town on a leash. It wouldn't have been as bad if it wasn't in public. The only solace he got was in knowing that he wasn't the only one going through it.

"Stop dragging your feet," Said Robert, snapping TJ out of his thoughts. "Keep up."

"Where are we going?" TJ asked him. Robert stopped and turned to look at him. He sent a warning glare his way before turning back. "If it's so important that you spoke out of line, we're going to my house," He gave the leash a quick tug before walking. "Now c'mon!"

"I'm not going to your house!"

"Yes you are," Robert told him. "And if you speak out of line again I'm taking you behind the trees and inflicting corporal punishment." TJ kept his mouth shut the rest of the way.

Ten minutes later TJ found himself standing in the doorway of Robert's room. The smell alone was overwhelming; he was sure something crawled in there, lived for a few months, and then died a painful drawn out death. Not to mention the fact that he couldn't see the floor and there were enough dishes around to fill a cabinet.

"Get to work," Robert told him. He stepped over the mess and lay on his bed, the only clean thing in the room. "I want this place spotless! And if you try anything remember what happened in the locker room!" Instead arguing like he wanted to, TJ started by opening a window to get the foul stench out.

Robert watched him clean as the floor slowing became visible again. He was enjoying every moment of this; he got to pull the monkey-boy on a leash AND his room was getting cleaned. His argument for having the monkey-boy do it, was that he was having fun watching him do whatever he commanded. And it wasn't like he was getting hurt, at least not yet.

Part of Robert was waiting for him to speak out or try to leave; he _really_ wanted to use that paddle again. But nothing. He cleaned his room just like he was told to do. And that was no fun.

TJ meanwhile was wonder why the hell he didn't put up a fight. This place was disgusting, and Robert should be doing this himself. Besides, he wanted to sleep. But TJ found himself picking up clothes and dusting the room like it was his own.

'This is bullshit,' He thought to himself. 'I should just leave. What is he gonna do? Hit me?' Looking up he could see Robert holding the paddle in his hands and looking at it. 'This is bullshit.' He thought before going back to cleaning. 'Hold on, I'm not afraid of him, am I? No, of course not. Because that would mean I wanted to be here and I don't.'

The sound of a growling stomach interrupted the boy's thoughts. They looked at each other, wondering whose stomach was it.

"Hungry?" Robert asked him. "Me too. I'm going to go make something. You stay here." He stood up and headed for the door, but he turned back around to face the younger boy. Grabbing the leash he tied the end to the bed post. "That's to stop you from leaving." He said as he walked out the door.

"I'm not your bitch!" TJ yelled at him.

"Yes you are!" Robert yelled from down the hall. "You've been my bitch since fourth grade! And if you're not, I'm gonna make you!"

After ten minutes Robert came back with in with a plate with two sandwiches. He found TJ sitting on the floor, arms crossed, looking very angry.

"What's your issue?" Robert asked as he sat down in front of him.

"I'm not your bitch..." TJ mumbled.

"Would that _really_ be so bad?" Robert asked him, talking a bite out his sandwich. "It's not like you're not enjoying it."

"I'm not enjoying it!"

"Whatever you say, monkey-boy," He said. "I know you like it. Eat your sandwich; I didn't make it for nothing." The two of them ate in silence. Afterwards, Robert moved closer and grabbed him by his shirt, pulling him forward. "Remember when I said I was going to make you my bitch?" Before TJ was able to respond, a pair of lips was pressed against his. At first he tried to push the older boy off of him but soon found himself wrapping his arms around Robert.

Robert smiled to himself and grabbed TJ's hands. He pushed them behind his back and tied them together. Breaking the kiss, TJ asked him what the hell was he doing. Robert just gave a smile and pulled him by his hair back into a kiss. Reaching under his bed, Robert found a pair of scissors and started to cut away at TJ's shirt. Once he was finished he pulled back and stood on his feet.

"You know," He said. "You look cute like that." Turning around he started to look around his room. "Where did I put that thing?"

"What are you doing?" TJ asked him. "Let me go!"

"No." Robert looked in his closet and pulled out a box. Looking through it he found what he was looking for and walked back over to TJ holding it behind his back. "I'll let you go when you admit that you're enjoying this."

"Like hell I will!" Yelled TJ. He received a response through a whip being cracked on bare chest.

"You either say _that_ ," Robert said with a smile. "Or say you're my bitch."

"You can't do this to people!" _CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!_

"Say it!"

"I'm saying anything! Let me go right now!" _CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!_

"SAY IT!"

"No!" _CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!_

"Say it!" TJ felt his chest start to bleed a little where Robert hit him. It was also beginning to hurt when he breathed. "I'm only going to stop when you say it."

"Fine! If it'll get you stop," Said TJ. After a deep breath he spoke again. "I like it…."

"What was that? I didn't hear you. Speak up."

"I said I like it! Now let me go!"

"That's not good enough," Said Robert. "I want you to say you're my bitch too."

"You're crazy if you think I'm saying that!"

"You're crazy if you think I'm gonna let you go if you don't. Now say you like it and you're my bitch."

"I'm not saying it!" _CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!_

"You'd better say it. You're starting to bleed a little."

"I am not your bitch!" _CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!_

"Yes you are!" Robert yelled at him. "Say it!"

"No!" _CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!_ "Dammit that hurts!"

"Then say it and I'll stop!"

"I-I like it," He looked away, unable to look at Robert while he spoke. "And I'm you're _bitch…._ "

"See? That wasn't so hard now was it?" Dropping the whip Robert walked out the room. He came back a few minutes later with a bag of cotton balls, a bottle of peroxide, and bandages. Sitting down in front of the younger boy he started to clean the wounds he inflicted on him. "It didn't have to last this long. You could've just admitted it from the beginning. I don't know, maybe you _wanted_ it to last this long….."

"Yeah, 'because I definitely wanted to get whipped today…" TJ said sarcastically. "Can you at least untie me?"

"Hold on," Robert said as he wrapped the bandage around his chest. "Just give me a minute…" Making sure the bandage was wrapped just tight enough, Robert reached behind him and untied his hands and then the leach from the bed post. Standing up, TJ headed for the door but felt the collar pull on his neck when he walked to far. Turing around he could see a very smug looking Robert holding on to the leash. "Come here."

"What for?"

"Just get over here!" Grudgingly, TJ walked over to him. "Don't look so angry." Robert said. He ran his fingers through TJ's hair. "Besides, you're enjoying this whole thing," He said before pulling him into a kiss.

The two of them wrapped their arms around the other and found their way to the bed.


	9. Chapter 9

With high school in full swing, it was easy for TJ to keep him mind busy and from thinking about two things that concerned him. One was how he basically became someone's property in two days and how he sort of liked it and the other was how a certain collar around his neck didn't want to be removed.

With a busy schedule of homework and hanging out with friends, he didn't see Robert that often. If he did, it was when they passed in the hall and even then, TJ managed to avoid any eye contact although he knew Robert was trying his very best to do the opposite. The last thing he wanted to do was speak to him after what had happened in his room two weeks ago.

Nothing much happened, besides being pulled, tied up, whipped, and kissed even though they both wanted it to go further. But TJ wasn't going to let him have _that_ much power over him. If there was one thing he could control Robert with it was holding out on sex. So he said no, and continued to say no when Robert tugged at the leash. Eventually Robert stopped and they settled kissing instead.

Then Robert had to accuse him on the following Monday of enjoying the role of the submissive bitch. TJ then told him that he was a sick perverted sadistic bastard that likes to hurt people for his own sexual gratification. Robert said that he was aware of this and that he was trying to get TJ to truly admit that he liked being controlled by sick perverted sadistic bastards. He then walked away before giving TJ time to respond. Luckily with all the work the teacher felt like giving him, TJ didn't have time to focus on that for too long.

But of course there were the questions of why he was walking around with a dog collar on. Over the weekend, TJ tried to take it off. He tried to unbuckle it but it wouldn't budge. So he tried scissors and eventually a knife; still nothing. Since Robert absolutely refused to take it off of him, he was left to walk around school with it on.

After a few days, TJ didn't notice it any more than he noticed his hat. But it still bothered him. He felt as if he was basically _showing_ everyone what was going on between him and the former king.

Eventually things slipped back to normal; people stopped asking him about the leash, he avoid Robert, and he wasn't put into any compromising positions.

Today however was going to be different. He knew that when he woke up from a _very_ graphic dream of him and the former king doing things he would've _never_ thought about doing a few weeks ago. After a dream like that, he made sure to keep his guard up.

Sitting in his first period class, which he shared with Gus and Vince, he was trying to focus on the lecture. TJ found this to be difficult task to do, because before school had started, Robert had tracked him down and pulled him aside. No wanting to see what would happen, TJ bolted out of there was soon as Robert let go of his arm and didn't look back. Now that he was in school, it wouldn't be too hard for Robert to find him again and drag him into a janitor's closet and he did not want that to happen.

"Mr. Detweiler, would you mind coming back down to earth and answering the problem on the board?" Asked Mr. Futeer. Suddenly being snapped out his own thoughts caused TJ to say the first thing that was on his mind.

"You can't keep doing this to me!" He yelled. "This isn't legal!" Everyone in the class turned to look at him.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Detweiler?" Mr. Futeer asked him. Seeing all eyes were on him, TJ grabbed his books and walked out of class.

By the time lunch rolled around, the rest of the gang were told my Gus and Vince what had happened in first period, and were now asking TJ why he acted how he did.

"Do you really want to know?" TJ asked them. "Do you _really_?"

"Yeah," Said Gus. "That whole outburst came out of nowhere."

"I don't think you want to know. I don't think you handle it."  
"Just tell us!" Spinelli said.

"Fine, I'll tell you," He said. He turned to them with a very manic looking smile on his face. "I'm someone's bitch." A moment of silence fell in the group as no one knew how to answer to that.

"W-what?"

"I'm someone's bitch," He repeated. "And I like it!" Getting out of his seat TJ walked out of the cafeteria, leaving the rest of the group behind.

"I think high school is finally getting to him," Said Vince.

Between second period and the end of the school day, TJ had accepted that King Bob was right. He was a masochist, a sick perverted masochist that gets gratification from being hurt by sadists like Robert. And that was okay with him because no one else had to know. And he was allowed to have his own kinks, right? Right.

Besides, he never really wanted to take that dog collar off.


	10. Chapter 10

Robert was worried.

It was Thursday, and he hadn't seen the monkey-boy since last Friday. At first he thought that Detweiler was just avoiding him as usual, but normally he would be able to catch him when he walked out of class. But that didn't work either. If he had the time, he would stand outside of school and wait for him to come out; he had football practice so that wasn't an option.

Now it was Thursday, and Robert was just about sick of being ignored. It wasn't that he was cared about the monkey-boy. No, that wasn't the case at all. Robert just felt that he better not be paying attention to someone else. After four years of barely seeing each other, he felt that he should have most of his attention. Besides, the monkey-boy was _his._

At lunch, he found the monkey-boys friends and demanded, in a very king-like way, that they tell him exactly why Detweiler hasn't been in school all week. After telling them to mind their own business when they asked why he cared, he got an answer: monkey-boy has the flu. Saying his thanks he walked away, and made it a goal to go over to his house after practice was over.

~*~LATER~*~

After being let in by Detweiler's mother, Robert stood outside of was he supposed was his room. Knocking on the door, he was answered with a very hard cough and a weak, 'come in.' Opening the door, he saw a very ill and tired looking TJ lying in bed. With his hair more unkempt than normal, sunken in eyes, and hoarse breathing, Robert was sure he wasn't faking. Stepping over used tissues on the floor, Robert made it over to the bed.

"What do you want?" TJ asked him.

"To see if you're okay," Robert told him. "Is that a problem?"

"No. But now you see I'm alive," He said, turning over. "So you can leave."

"Gee, you act like you don't even like me."

"I do like you. I just need to rest and unless you're going to help that process, you need to leave."

"Okay," Robert said. "What can I do to help?"

"Clean my room," TJ said before turning to face him. "It's really messy and I can't clean it myself."

"No way! It's just a bunch of tissues with your germs in them! I'm not touching anything!" Walking towards the door, Robert was going to leave. There was no way he was going to clean up this filth. Monkey-boy did the cleaning, not a King. That didn't change whether or not he was sick. Besides, it's been four days, he should be getting better any day now.

A loud and dry cough brought Robert out his thoughts. With a cough like that it didn't sound like he was going to get better any time soon and Robert was beginning to feel guilty for leaving him like this. Still, he was determined to leave before the guilt could take hold. But then, in the most weak and pathetic voice, the monkey-boy had to speak up.

"Please?" Asked the younger boy. "I can't do it…"

"You're going to get better soon," Said Robert. "Then you can do it yourself."

"But I'm sick…" He whined. "And I miss you…" Robert could've sworn he'd rehearsed this. Turning around he could see him reaching towards him and trying, very successfully Robert might add, to give him puppy dog eyes. Normally Robert would be able to walk away from such a childish thing, but he was a sucker for blue eyes.

"Fine," Robert said giving up. "Where are the rubber gloves again?"

"Under the sink in the bathroom," TJ told him again. "Thanks."

"Yeah, yeah," Robert said. "Whatever."

After finding the rubber gloves, Robert took off his leather football jacket to avoid getting any germs on it and started to clean. It mainly included picking up used tissues and putting them in the trash. Robert wondered why exactly Detweiler couldn't just put them in the trash to begin with. He was beginning to think Detweiler planned this; he would worry about him not being in school, and then he would come over, and that would be the perfect opportunity to get back to make him clean his room. It made sense. But still, monkey-boy was pathetically sick, and Robert couldn't help but feel bad for him.

TJ meanwhile wanted to feel happy for managing to get Robert to clean his room. He didn't think Robert would even care that he wasn't at school, but he did and that made him think that their relationship was going somewhere. Smiling, he watched as Robert continued to clean even though he had a disgusted look on his face. He could feel something with his foot on the end of the bed. Looking, he could see Robert's leather football jacket. Reaching for it, he pulled it closer to him and hugged it. It was warm from being worn and had still had his distinct smell. Lying back down, he snuggled with it, not caring if Robert saw him.

"Hey what are you doing!" Robert yelled once he saw that that TJ had his jacket. "Give that back! You're gonna get your germs all over it!" Instead of answering, TJ just hugged it tighter and looked at Robert with puppy dog eyes again. "That's not gonna work again! Put it down!"

"But I like it!" TJ said. "If I have it, it's like you're saying that I'm yours, right? So I should wear it…" Robert watched as TJ put on his jacket. It was big for him; the sleeves went past his hands and there was plenty of room left. He curled up in bed and looked up at Robert again.

"Dammit," Robert mumbled before going back to cleaning. When did the monkey-boy become so good at manipulating him? People like him don't get manipulated, they do the manipulating! But he just had to be so damn cute in his jacket.

With the last of the tissues put in the trash, Robert was puzzled when the room still seemed messy. Clothes were thrown on the floor, the closest was empty, and textbooks and papers were everywhere. He only intended to clean up the first thing he saw when he came in; the tissues and occasional empty tissue box. So he started to leave, but was stopped again, by a dry cough coming from the sickly body lying in bed. Grudgingly, he turned around and started to clean the remaining mess.

"Thank you for helping me," TJ told him. "I really appreciate it."

"You better," Robert said, putting the last few clothes away. "I don't _have_ to do this."

"But you are and that means you care about me, right?"

"I guess so," He said walking over to the bed. "You're not gonna give me back my jacket are you?" TJ shook his head. "Just do ruin it then alright? Take care of it."


	11. Chapter 11

Whore.

That was a new word Robert used to describe him. Whore.

It wasn't that he slept with a lot of people or anything; from what Robert gathered, he was still a virgin. But he was still a whore. By definition anyways.

Robert defined a whore as someone who gives people anything extremely easily, without having them work for it. And by that, he was definitely a whore. He's been whoring himself out since he was a kid. Not only has he been whoring himself out to others, but mostly to his friends, and they helped whore him out to others as Robert saw it.

Robert justified this through three points. One was the fact the he helped any and everybody. There wasn't a person he _wouldn't_ help. Second was that he had so much experience helping that it was easy and simple for him to do without much effort. Lastly, people didn't have to persuade him to do what he does. They just had to walk up to him, ask, and he would do it. With three simple points, Robert proved that he was not only a whore, but sounded somewhat like a slut as well.

He wasn't a slut, but a whore; there was a difference. Sluts advertised what they would do with zest. He didn't, not intentionally anyways. When he did things for others, it got around and other people came for the same assistance, but that was advertising on his part. Well, maybe he was a little bit of a slut too, but he was mostly a whore. The whorishness overshadowed the slutiness

From what Robert could see, it's gotten worse over time. Now that he was older, the monkey boy was smarter, and that meant he could help people faster, which meant he could help _more_ people, whoring himself out more than ever. Not only that, but in four years, the monkey-boy became a little bit of a pretty boy which adding to his whorishness. He was able to be let off easy by everyone, because he could pull off an innocent look anytime he was accused; something he amazingly wasn't able to do when he was little.

But Robert was able to forgive him, because he couldn't help being a whore to any and every person who asked for his help; it was in his blood. He couldn't stop being a whore if he tried.

Still, the monkey-boy blew a gasket when Robert called him a whore after they met up before lunch one day.

"How are you going to stand here and call me a whore?" TJ asked Robert. The two of them stood outside the school during lunch.

"You are," Robert said. "You're the definition of a whore. You whore yourself out to everyone!"

"I haven't slept with anyone and you know it!"

"I didn't say you slept with anyone. I just said you were a whore."

"…..What? That doesn't make any sense!" TJ yelled at him.

"Look, you help a lot of people right?" Robert asked him.

"Yeah."

"And it's easy for you to help others, right?"

"Right."

"So you're a whore." Robert stated. "You're the school's whore."

"You're crazy," Said TJ.

"I'm not the only one who thinks so."

"…..w-who else thinks I'm a whore?"

"Come with me." Robert walked into the school with TJ following after. After a few minutes they made it to the cafeteria. Robert led him over to his friends and got their attention by pulling TJ the rest of the way. "I need to ask you all a question. Is he," Robert paused to let go of TJ's arm and pointed at him. "A whore?" He was met with silence, and took it as them not knowing how to answer an awkward question. "Look, he helps _everybody,_ it's _easy_ for him to do, and when he helps people they don't have to do much to persuade him. He's a whore, right?"

"That does sound kind of whorish," Gretchen said.

"If you say it like that, then yeah," Said Vince. "He does sound like one."

"Who's side are you guy's on?" TJ asked them in disbelief.

"We're on your side, TJ," Spinelli told him. "But you're a whore. You just have to accept that. Besides it's just….it's just…whats the word I'm looking for?"

"Metaphorical?" Said Grectchen.

"Yeah, it's just metaphorical. You're not an ACTUAL whore, even though you have a dog collar on."

"See? They think so too," Robert said to him. "It's okay, you can't help it."

"I have the most questionable friends….." TJ mumbled to himself. "So I'm a whore?" They all nodded. "Okay, I'm a whore…." He walked out of the cafeteria, head hanging low. Robert looked at him as he left, feeling guilty. Saying goodbye to the monkey-boys friends, he went after him.

After a few minutes of wandering, Robert found him standing in an empty hallway, leaning against a set of lockers. Robert could see that he looked upset, even a little angry.

"Hey," Robert said just loud enough to catch his attention. After TJ looked up at him he continued to talk. "You okay?"

"What do you think?" TJ snapped at him. "You call me whore and make my friends think I'm a whore. I'm pissed off!"

"I didn't mean it like that," Robert said as he approached him. "I just meant that you help people a lot. Kinda like a whore."

"But why do you have to call me a whore?"TJ asked him.

"Would you rather have me call you a slut?" Robert joked. "I guess I just wanted to put a name to it. If I called you a whore, then you would be my whore." Robert came closer to him and pulled the monkey-boy into a hug even though he still had his arms folded. "I'm sorry. If you don't want me to call you a whore, then I won't, okay?"

"Thanks."


	12. Chapter 12

Today was not a pleasant day. Time seemed to go painfully slow, with the sole purpose of making Roberts's day more miserable than it already was. His body was working against him at full strength, and not even the coldest of showers in the morning helped.

That's when it all started for him; in the morning. He just had a very _pleasant_ dream involving him and monkey-boy, and it showed not only in his dreams, but in the mess on his sheets. So Robert was determined not to think about him for the day. Robert thought about school, which assignments were due, what was going to happen at football practice. But that all stopped once he arrived at school.

Out of all the days of the year, Detweiler actually had decided to wait for him outside of school. It wouldn't have been so bad if he wasn't feeling a rush of testosterone that day. But he was, and his body felt the urge to show the world exactly what he thought about the younger male. Robert had to rush past him saying that he need to be somewhere, and headed straight to the nearest empty bathroom to take care of himself.

As the day went on, it was increasingly difficult for Robert to control himself. This was due to anything red, blue, brown, or anyone who happened to wear a hat set off his hormones like a rocket. And today just had to be the day when red was the most popular color.

Detweiler was going to pay for this.

Somehow he managed to make it through the day and football practice. After that he headed over to the monkey-boy's house. Once he was let in by Mr. Detweiler he knocked very loudly on his door. Once the monkey-boy opened it, he put his foot in so the door couldn't be closed.

"What do you want?" TJ asked him.

"Just let me in," Robert whined.

"You blow be off at school then expect me to let you in my room? Yeah right," TJ said. He stated to close the door but found that Robert's foot was in the way. "Why should I let you in?"

"You know what?" Robert pushed his way in a closed the door. "I should've done that from the start. Look Detweiler, you've made my day a living hell and you're going to pay for it!"

"What did I do? I didn't even see you all day!"

"You…you just drove me crazy!" Robert yelled. He reached out and grabbed the younger boy by the collar around his neck.

"So what do want me to do?" TJ asked him. "You want me to say I'm sorry?"

"No," Said Robert. "That's not enough."

"You're not gonna beat me with the whip again are you? I still have wounds from the last time…."

"Fine, I won't," Robert said. "But I'm staying here for a while. I wanna use this thing again." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the leach and hooked it to the leash around the monkey-boys neck.

"You can't today. My friends are coming over! What if they come in?" TJ asked him.

"I'll let you go if you say something for me," Robert said with a wicked smile.

"Not this whole thing again….."

"Say, 'I'm King Bob's little bitch and I like it.'"

"I'm King Bob's little bitch and I like it," TJ repeated. Robert was taken aback by how quickly that came out. "I came to terms with the fact that I like this whole thing. So now, you can't use it against me." Robert looked at him, perplexed at what to do. Most of the fun came from the monkey-boy _not_ wanting to say it. Now he said it without any hesitation, ruining Roberts plan.

So he would have to skip to second part. With a quick tug of the leash, the younger male was right in front of him in seconds. Wrapping an arm around the others waist, Robert pressed his lips against his. The two of them hugged the other, pulling them into a closer embrace.

They sat on the floor and leaned against the bed, never breaking the kiss on the way. Making his way to the younger boy's neck, Robert started to nip and bite, tightening his grip to keep him from jumping. He gently pushed and laid him down on the floor, straddling him to keep him from getting up. Robert continued to kiss him until a pair of hands pushed against his chest.

"What?" Robert asked him, irritated.

"We're not having sex," TJ told him.

"Did I say I was trying to?" Robert said before he kissed him again. Lasting for about ten minutes, the two of them only stopped when the sound of the door being opened was heard. Pulling apart, they looked at the doorway to see monkey-boy's friends standing with very shocked looks on their faces. After few awkward seconds intruders closed the door, leaving the two of them alone again.

"Your friends just killed the mood," Robert said, standing up. "Thanks for the satisfaction, Detweiler. See you tomorrow." Walking out of the room, he passed his friends, seeing a wink their way before continuing his way home.


	13. Chapter 13

Seniority has its effect on people. TJ found that out once he became a sophomore and Robert became a senior.

TJ didn't know what happened over the summer, but when school started Robert didn't seem to have enough time. He was either with his own jock friends, football practice, or in class. And when TJ tried to talk to him, Robert would say that he was busy and they would talk later. But later never came.

It wasn't just that either; he seemed to have developed an ego too. In the previous years, he would have never picked on the lower grades. Now he seemed to enjoy it very much, though he never bothered TJ and his friends. But it still annoyed him.

What bothered him the most was that Robert appeared to completely disregard their relationship. Though they never actually _dated_ or anything _,_ TJ still felt that they were doing something, and that something made them unavailable to others. However Robert didn't feel the same way. He freely flirted with the girls that came up to him and talked. He told TJ that it was nothing, and that he shouldn't worry about it. But it still bothered him.

After the third week of this, Robert's behavior became simply intolerable, and TJ told Robert not to talk to him until he started acting like himself. He hoped that it would be enough to knock some sense into the former king, but it wasn't. They ignored each other, and acted like the other wasn't there. It hurt them both; the relationship that they were hoping for since they were kids was in jeopardy.

Finally, after two months of not talking, TJ found Robert walking down the hall by himself and pulled him aside.

"We need to talk," TJ told him.

"Oh, so now you're talking to me?" Robert snapped. "I thought I had an ego the size of the state!"

"You do. But I still wanna talk."

"About what?"

"Why are you acting like this?" TJ asked him. "You're all pompous and you're being an ass to everyone who isn't a senior."

"Hey, I'm allowed to have fun aren't I?" Robert argued.

"….what about me? You've been blowing me off even before I told you not to talk to me."

"I'm busy!" Robert yelled. "I have I life, you know! Look," Robert said. He paced and looked at the floor before looking back up. "I'm having a party on Saturday at my house. You can come and we can talk then, okay?"

"Saturday? Alright," Said TJ. "Saturday. You better not blow me off again!"

"Promise."

~*~SATURDAY~*~

Stepping into Robert's house, TJ was met with a large crowd of people. The house was packed, and the music was loud but the sound of people talking was still louder. Unzipping Robert's jacket that he wore, TJ looked above the crowd to try and find Robert. Spotting his mop of black hair in the back, he made his way towards the back and saw that he was with a few of his friends from the football team. Walking up to Robert, he opened his mouth to talk but was interrupted.

"How did you get in?" Asked the football player on Robert's left. "This party is for seniors only!"

"And why are you wearing Robert's jacket?" Said the player on his right. "He's been looking for it!"

"I don't why he's been looking for it," TJ snapped back at him. "He gave it to me!" Robert friends turned to look at him, waiting for an answer. This was the moment that the last thing TJ expected to happen, happened. This was the moment that made him experience the most pain he felt in his 16 years of living.

"I didn't give it to you!" Robert yelled at him.

"Yes you did!"

"Hey, maybe he stole it because he has a thing for you," the person on his left suggested. "Is that why you stole it you little faggot? 'Cause you have a crush on Robert here?" Looking at Robert to say something, TJ waited for his to say something back to his friends. But what he said was aimed at him instead.

"Look, just get out of here!" Robert shouted at the younger male.

"But you told me to—"

"Get out my house you little faggot before we throw you out!" Shouted Robert. Not giving him another chance to say anything, TJ turned around and walked away from him. He wanted to look back, just to see if Robert was going to come after him to apologize, but he knew that wasn't going to happen. Once he was on the porch, he took off the jacket, and managed to get the leash off of his neck after struggling with it for bit. Throwing it to the ground he left, leaving Robert and his possessions behind.


	14. Chapter 14

Robert felt like shit.

Sitting in his seat wearing his graduation gown, he looked towards the stage, waiting for the student's names to be called to receive their diploma. Today should be nothing but exciting for him; he was finally free of high school. But because of what had happened six months ago, he couldn't focus on the moment.

He didn't mean what he said to the monkey-boy, he really didn't. But because he was drunk with his friends, he didn't monkey-boy to be around him to embarrass him. He didn't take much to see that his choice of words hurt him; he saw that when he looked at his eyes.

Afterwards, he admitted that his ego had gotten the best of him and that he was wrong for screaming what he did to the younger male. Once the party was over he found his football jacket lying on his porch like it was a piece of trash that someone couldn't be bothered with to throw away properly. He knew that he needed to wait a while before he could talk to him when he saw that.

So Robert waited two weeks before he approached Detweiler to try and explain himself. Unfortunately for him, the monkey-boy didn't want to talk, let alone be around him. So whenever Robert started walking towards him, he turned around and walked away without saying a word to him. If Robert somehow managed to steal a glance from the monkey-boy, the only looks he received were those of hurt and anger.

He continued to wait in hopes that Detweiler would eventually let him get a word in to explain himself. Weeks turned into months, and the end of the school year approached. It wouldn't have been as bad if he wasn't going off to college, leaving the monkey-boy behind. But Robert was, and he wanted to apologize before he left. But with TJ not giving him a chance to even approach him, that didn't look like a possibility. Even still, Robert went out on a limb, and slipped an invitation to his graduation in the monkey-boy's locker in the hopes that he would come. But looking around in the crowd he saw no sign of a red cap anywhere.

Once his name was called, he walked on stage, was handed his diploma, shook the hands of various speakers and walked back to his seat, ready for the ceremony to be over with. He had important things to do.

~*~LATER~*~

Standing outside of the monkey-boy's door, Robert knocked and waited for an answer. He changed out his graduation gown into regular clothes, and managed to sneak away from family members trying to take more than enough pictures. After a few minutes of no response from the other side of the door, Robert knocked again.

"C'mon! Open the door!" Robert yelled. "I know you're in there!" Hearing the door being unlocked, he stepped back and watched as the door opened.

"What do _you_ want?" TJ asked him as he stepped into the hallway.

"Can you give me a chance to explain myself?"

"No."

"Look, I just want to apologize for what I said," Robert told him. "I didn't mean it."

"Then why would you say it at all?" Asked TJ. "You invite me to some party just to embarrass me in front of your friends?"

"I didn't plan to say it! I just couldn't let my friends know about…this."

"What? You couldn't let them know you're into girls _and_ guys? That's a really pathetic excuse." Said TJ. "I told my friends in the seventh grade even though I was scared out of my mind and you can't tell yours?"

"I'm on the football team," Said Robert. "It's different."

"Yeah well, I'm not going to be some embarrassing secret," TJ said as he stepped back into his room and closing his door.

"I don't wanna leave us like this!" Robert yelled through the door. "I'm leaving for college and I can't leave like this! Please let me in." He stood there, trying to convince TJ to open the door, but it didn't work. After ten minutes it became clear that nothing he could say would work. "I'm sorry," Said Robert. "I really am. But I know you won't forgive me, especially after what I said. I just wanna let you know I'm sorry before I leave…" He paused, waiting to see if the door would open, but like before it didn't. Walking away he hoped that before he moved to college that he would be forgiven, but knew that wasn't likely to happen.

Meanwhile on the other side of the door TJ sat on his bed, trying to keep himself from crying. Part of him wanted to run out the door, hug Robert and forgive him. His apology did sound sincere and Robert did try repeatedly to talk this out. But at the same time, he couldn't. Those words Robert yelled at him hurt like a knife to the heart. And he did it in front of his friends in his own house!

TJ felt betrayed; Robert led him on as if he actually liked him. But it was just a cruel sick joke to embarrass him. Adding to the pain was the fact that he basically loved the guy for a large chunk of his life. It was as if Robert reached into his chest, pulled out his heart, stomped on it until it was an unrecognizable mush, and put in back in his chest. He could stand to be near him; if he was those words he yelled replayed over and over again in his head.

" _Get out of my house you little faggot before we throw you out!"_

It felt impossible to ever forgive him for what he did. Tears flowed down his cheeks as it became too much to hold back. The only good news about seeing Robert today was knowing that afterwards, he would be leaving and no longer around to cause him pain anymore.


	15. Chapter 15

Time quickly passed for TJ, and before he knew it, high school was over and he was putting the last few things away in his college dorm. He, Spinelli, Vince, and Gus were enrolled in the same college, while Gretchen managed to go to Harvard, and Mikey was enrolled in an art's school in New York. Part of what made the time fly by so fast that a certain former king wasn't around to plaque his thoughts.

That day two years ago when Robert had tried to apologize was indeed the last time he saw him, and although it was hard, over time it became easier to forget about him. He didn't see why he should focus and worry about the person who caused him so much pain. Besides, he figured that Robert had probably moved on anyways. But what he didn't understand was why in the world _he_ found it hard to move on.

Whenever he tried to find someone else to date, he found himself comparing them to Robert. With that being a hindrance, he was never able to go out with anyone else. There was a good side to this however; since he had plenty of free time, he was able to join the debate club and was able to put more energy into studying and managed to have a B average for his junior and senior year. He surprised himself with that.

Once graduation came, TJ was worried that Robert would make an appearance and try to talk to him, but he didn't and TJ was thankful for that. The only thing he had to worry about after graduation was the incredibly small chance of going to the same college Robert did. He repeatedly tried to reassure himself that it was highly unlikely for that to happen. He had to do that repeatedly because over his life very unlikely things happened to him and this could just be one of them.

Sitting on his bed he sighed, his parents were generous enough to pay for him to have a room to himself, so he didn't have to wait for a roommate to move in. The dorm was coed, one half housing the boys and the other half to the girls. Gus was down the hall, Vince was on the floor above him, and Spinelli was on the other side of the building. Classes wouldn't start for two days, giving him plenty of time to find his way around campus and think about what he wanted to major in.

Politics or law looked like a good idea, especially with his experience with debate, not to mention spending his entire life trying to help people. It became second nature to him. Then again, and part of him was interested in becoming a doctor. The only bad thing about that was having to spend another large chunk of his life in school, a place he didn't particularly like. But he had until the end of his sophomore year to decide. A career in education was looking pretty interesting anyways.

Yawning, he laid down in bed. The college he was in was hours away from home, and he was tired from travelling and carrying boxes up the stairs. Closing his eyes, he promised himself that he would walk around campus when he woke up.

Walking down the sidewalk, TJ found it to be difficult to watch where he was going. He looked at the buildings he passed, taking a mental note of which one's his classes were in. It was 6:30 p.m., and most of the other students were in their dorms, meeting others in their dorms in an attempt to make friends so that their year wouldn't be filled with the misery, woe, and the crushing sense of loneliness that comes with the responsibility of college work.

Because he wasn't paying attention to where he was walking, TJ soon found himself walking into someone's back.

"Sorry," TJ said, stepping back from the person he had walked into. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

"It's okay," Said the person he ran into. "I bet you're new here, right?" Watching him turn around, TJ's list of unlikely events to happen in his live became a little longer. That mop of black hair was unmistakable, so were those dark eyes. "Monkey-boy?"

"What are the chances we would go to the same college?" TJ said. "I gotta go." Turning away he walked back down the street where he came.

"Wait! Hold on!" Robert ran after him and grabbed him by the shoulder. "It's been two years. You're not still mad at me are you?"

"No," Said TJ, pulling away from Robert's grasp. "Why does it matter? You probably got some cheerleader girlfriend or some cool boyfriend by now anyway."

"I don't. I couldn't," Said Robert. "I tried to, but I couldn't. I was always comparing them to you. 'Cause I love you. Just tell me what I have to do to win you back and I'll do it."

"There isn't. Look," Said TJ. He turned around and faced Robert. "I think it would be best if we don't. I was just getting over you anyways." Before he was able to turn away, he was pulled into a hug by the taller male.

"Someone told me that if you love someone you supposed to hug them and never let them go," Robert said. "I love you and I want to be with you. Just give me another chance."

"….I love you too," TJ said, putting his hands against Robert's chest. "But you hurt me and I don't want to go through that again." He pushed against Robert chest to try and break free of his grasp.

"I was drinking that night," Said Robert. "If it means I won't say what I did, I won't ever have a drink again."

"Sorry," Said TJ. "But no." Leaving Robert behind, he began to walk back down the sidewalk to his dorm. Closing his eyes, he tried to ignore the Roberts yells for him to come back.


	16. Chapter 16

It was Saturday night, and instead of being out partying with the other students TJ sat inside a hospital room next to an unconscious Robert. He watched him, wondering when he would regain consciousness. In his hand he clutched a get well card he bought just before he arrived at the hospital. Along with being unconscious, Robert had a cast around his left leg. He was brought here after a terrible football accident.

~*~FLASHBACK~*~

Robert looked up from the field and into the crowd in the bleachers. It was homecoming week, and this was the home game against the university's rival. Robert looked through the many people in the crowd for a red cap on top of the head of the monkey-boy, but because the crowd was so massive, he couldn't. Putting on his helmet, he walked over to his teammate as the coach began to give them the play that was supposed to open up enough field to allow them to score a touchdown.

When they were given the play, Robert and the rest of his team took their positions and waited for the other team. Once the ball was passed to him, Robert ran as fast as could, but before he knew it, a much larger football player on the other team was running towards him. The next thing he knew, he was on the ground with a strong and sharp pain coming from his leg. His head hit the ground hard, causing him to slip into unconsciousness.

Watching from the crowds, TJ sat on the edge of his seat. He had come to the football game out of boredom after he had managed to get his essay for a civics class done early. At first, TJ didn't want to go at all due to Robert being on the football team and he was trying to forget about what had happened between them. But he decided to because his friends were stuck doing their own work in their rooms and he didn't want to interrupt them.

He had seen Robert get tackled, and waiting anxiously to get up, but he didn't. He watched was a stretcher was carried onto the field and Robert was put in, then carried off the field. After the announcement was made that he was being taken to the nearby hospital, TJ left the bleachers and took the next bus to the hospital.

~*~END FLASHBACK~*~

Looking out the window, TJ wondered why he bothered to come to the hospital at all. It wasn't like he hand Robert had anything going on between them and he was trying to remove the former king from his life. Still, he rushed to the hospital. He even picked up a card in a nearby gift shop. It wasn't like he didn't care if he was hurt or not. Maybe he just came to make sure he was okay. But he was starting warm up to the idea that he still has a soft spot for Bobby.

 _"When did I start calling him Bobby?"_ TJ thought to himself. Shaking it off, he looked at the blank card in his hand and thought about what to write in it. He looked at Robert, the card, and Robert again. Taking out a pen he wrote a few words down and sat the card on the table next to the bed. With one last look at Robert, he walked towards the door and left the former king alone.

Just as the door closed, Robert opened his eyes as he came out of consciousness. His head throbbed and he looked at the cast on his leg. He then looked around the room and ended on the side table next to his bed. Reaching for the card that sat on the table, he opened it and read the message that was written inside.

_I know we're not friends or anything, but I still care if you're okay. Get well soon._

_-TJ_

Robert smiled as the door to his room opened and his parents came in. He was beginning to think that he was finally starting to wear the monkey boy down.


	17. Chapter 17

Robert thought his luck was finally getting better.

A few months ago he broke his leg and twisted his ankle. He had to get a metal plate put in for his ankle until it fully healed. Due to football regulations, he wasn't allowed to play until the metal plate was removed for three months. With those restrictions, he wouldn't be playing for a year and a half. By then, he would be in his last semester, and it wouldn't even be worth playing.

However with more than enough time in his hands, Robert spent that time studying, bring his GPA from 2.5 to a 3.0. He was also considering joining fraternity just for the hell of it. Tonight, all of the fraternities where having a party in the attempt to recruit students for next year. To help with the recruitment, they were serving alcohol, which was the main motivator for Robert to go. That was where Robert found himself tonight.

So far, none of them looking interesting and was heading for the door until he bumped into someone wearing a very familiar red hat. His luck was getting even better.

"What are you doing here, Monkey-boy?" Robert asked him curiously. "Wouldn't you rather hang out with your own friends than a bunch of people you don't know?"

"I was bored," Said TJ. "And my friends went home for the weekend."

"So why didn't you?" Asked Robert. "The campus is boring on weekends."

"I promised Lawson I would," Said TJ.

"Why would you do that?"

"'cause he's my boyfriend." Robert could've sworn something was wrong with his hearing. Did he just say _'boyfriend?'_ And did he refer to Lawson as that _boyfriend?_ No, no, that couldn't be. Those two hated each other since Third Street. And that would mean that TJ wasn't available anymore. That was going to be a problem, because the monkey-boy was _his_ and _his_ only.

"B-boyfriend?" Robert stuttered.

"Yeah. What, you thought I would never get over you?"

"Well," He said, caught off guard. "No, but I thought that—"

"Detweiler!" A voice shouted from the crowd. "Get your bubbly ass over here!"

"Is that him?" Robert asked. TJ nodded. The watched as people moved for someone making their way through the crowd. Within a few minutes, Lawson was standing next to them. The auburn haired male proceeded to throw an arm around the shoulder of the cap wearer.

"Hey, King Bob," Lawson said, amused at the sight of the former king. "What are you doing here?"

"Free beer," Robert said calmly, holding himself back from snapping Lawson's neck for having his arm around the youngest male. "I was just headed out actually. I'll, uh, see you two later…." Waving the two goodbye Robert made his way to the exit. Just before he left, he turned back to the couple and saw that the monkey-boy was looking back towards him too. With a smile Robert made up his mind; he was going to make the monkey-boy his, no matter what it took.


	18. Chapter 18

With a desk lamp lighting his work, and the sound of a pen scratching against the sheet of paper that held his hard work, Robert leaned away from the desk he was sitting at an stretched. Looking at the clock on the edge of his desk, he saw that it read 11:37 p.m. Still, he let out a smile; he could've sworn it was 3 a.m. In all of his four years of his college career, his professors had never giving him this much work. He's been tackling his massive piled of work since his classes were over at noon. Looking back on it, Robert thought it was a good idea he decides to skip out on lunch and dinner. He probably would still be looking a pile of work in front of him he did eat.

Most of this work was due in two days, but because he knew that he had a habit of procrastinating, he made an effort to get it all done in one sitting. Finishing off the last equation of his last math assignment, he closed the book and gave himself a pat on the back. He had gotten all of his work done and didn't have to worry about it tomorrow. Putting the papers away, Robert thought about taking notes for his classes for next Tuesday, but decided not to. That could wait; sleeping couldn't.

With a final stretch, Robert grabbed his towel and what he need for a shower and headed for the bathroom when his cell phone rang. Looking at the caller ID he gave a tired smile; it was Detweiler. He flipped it open and answered.

"Yes, monkey-boy?" He answered.

"Y-you live in Botler Hall, right?" TJ asked quickly.

"Yeah, why?"

"Can you let me in?"

"Why? You don't live here. Your dorm is all the way across campus."

"Just let me in!" He yelled. "It's raining out here!"

"Okay, okay. Hold on," Robert said as he grabbed his keys. "I'm on the second floor." He closed his phone and left his room. As he went down the stairs, he wondered why the monkey-boy would be over here at this hour, especially when it was raining as hard as it was. Whatever reason it was, it had better be a good reason to keep Robert from getting his sleep. Opening the door to the dorm, he saw the monkey-boy in a red hoodie drenched in water and shaking from the cold.

"What are you doing here, Detweiler?" Robert asked him.

"Can I come in?" TJ asked, looking up at him. Once his face was in view, Robert could see that he had a very prominent black eye.

"Y-yeah," He said, stepping out of the way. "Come in." Robert led the way up the stairs into his room. Closing the door he turned to his guest. "So what happened? How did you get that black eye?"

"Lawson is a mean drunk," TJ said, half laughing.

"So he did that huh?" Robert asked as he looked through his drawers. Standing up he tossed a few clothes to TJ. "Hurry up and change, you're making a puddle." Nodding, TJ began to change out his soaked clothes into the clean and dry one Robert had given him. While he changed, Robert sat at his desk, thinking about what see should do. After a few minutes he turned around and saw that the younger male was done changing. "So he does this a lot?"

"N-no," TJ said as he sat on the edge of his bed. "This was the first time."

"That's Good."

"Good?"

"Yeah," Said Robert. "Because you know not to go back to him and let it happen again."

"You're just saying that so I'll break up with him and come back to you….."

"I'm saying 'cause I don't want you showing up at my door with a black eye," Robert snapped. "Whether or not you come back doesn't matter to me. But you better not come back with a black eye. Next time you do I'm going to kill that freckled faced, red haired bastard. Understand?"

"It's not like I didn't put up a fight," TJ said, yawning. "But I understand."

"Good. Now go to sleep."

"In your bed?" He asked. Robert nodded. "What about you? Where are you going to sleep?"

"I was um," Robert paused to look at his notebook that sat on his desk. "I was working on something before you came. It was going to be an all-nighter anyways. So you take the bed for tonight."

"Thanks King Bob," TJ said as he in between the covers.

"Yeah, yeah," Robert said as he pulled out a textbook. "Just promise you won't go back to that jerk."

"Promise."

"You better keep that promise." Robert turned from him and faced his desk, opening his book. "Good night, TJ."

"Good night, Bobby."


	19. Chapter 19

Sitting in TJ's dorm eating a very delicious piece of ice cream cake were TJ himself, Spinelli, Vince, Gus and Robert. The reason for them eating ice cream cake was that today was TJ's 20th birthday. Although this gathering was meant to be a celebration on another step forward to legal drinking, the room was oddly quiet. This was mostly due to the events that had happened a few hours ago.

~*~FLASHBACK~*~

Spinelli, Vince, and Gus walked towards TJ's room, each of them holding something. Spinelli and Gus were each carrying a stack of movies that none of them had seen before, and Vince carried a rather large ice cream cake inside a box. The three of them chipped in 20 dollars and they were able to get the biggest one the nearby bakery had. Because they were all usually bogged down with an amount of homework that they thought shouldn't be allowed, they planned to use TJ's birthday as an excuse to stay up all night hang out just like they used to.

Before they arrived, they called TJ and told them that they were coming. TJ then told them that he would unlock his door for them so that they could come in right away. When they reached the other side of his door, Spinelli turned the knob to see if it was true. It was, and they helped themselves in.

However, they only made it a few steps. They were stopped in their path by the sight of TJ and Robert, both shirtless and under the covers lying on his bed. Robert was on top if the younger male and they were in the middle of a very intense make-out session with both of their arm wrapped tightly around each other. Upon the sound of the door opening, they two of them pulled apart and looked at the intruders.

"What are you doing here?" Robert calming asked them.

"…We're here to um," Vince said, shocked at the sight in front of him. "Celebrate his birthday…."

"Oh," Robert huffed. "I'm giving the birthday boy my present. Come back in two hours." With that he went back to kissing. Since their words were caught in their throats the three of them stepped out the room and closed the door.

"What did we just see?" Gus asked the other two.

"TJ and King Bob fucking," Spinelli said. "It's about time those two got back together. C'mon, let's give the two of them some privacy." She led the way for them to head back to her dorm when a shout stopped them in their tracks.

"Ahh! Ooohhh, oh Robert!" Shouted a voice from inside the room. Not wanting to hear what else would be shouted, the three of them quickly walked away.

~*~END FLASHBACK~*~

With that event still fresh on their minds, Vince, Gus, ad Spinelli found it to be difficult to start a conversation. It didn't help that the two other males were sitting in the room, still shirtless. Of course Robert and TJ had on jeans, but when they were seen that did not have on shirts and that was all that mattered.

Then there was that looming smell of male-on-male sex in the room.

"You guy's okay?" TJ asked his friends. "You haven't said anything since you got here."

"Can you blame us?" Vince mumbled under his breath.

"It's kinda hard to when you walk in on your friend having sex," Said Gus. "Makes it even harder if that person is another guy. Not that there's anything wrong with that."

"So are you two back together again?" Spinelli asked them.

"I think so," said Robert, taking a bit of his cake. "What do you say monkey-boy?"

"I would hope so," TJ said. "it would kinda suck if you did all this just for sex. I guess we're dating if that's what you want to call it…"

"Now that we have that out of the way," Robert said, eaching for the pile of movies on the floor. "What are we watching?"

"I've bought Brokeback Mountain," Spinelli said, laughing. "Just kidding. How about Scary Movie 2? I feel like a funny movie…" The others agreement and the movie was put in, starting a night full of laughter.


	20. Chapter 20

Bubbly.

That was the newest word Robert came up with to describe his boyfriend. Bubbly. The way Robert saw it was that he was bubbly in all aspects of the word. And there were two aspects.

In the first aspect, and the one Robert noticed long ago, was that Detweiler had a very bubbly personality. In one moment or another, whenever Robert looked at him he was smiling. And that smiled was in Robert's own words, "Freakin' adorable.' Even when Robert was having the worst day, even when he got an F on his test that he studied hard for, or if someone scratched his car, when the monkey-boy walked up to him and greeted him with, "Hi Bobby, how are you today?" Robert would always say 'great.'

How the hell he could always be so happy puzzled Robert. No one could possibly be that happy and sane at the same time. Robert asked him why he was so happy every day, and the answer was sickeningly sweet.

'I'm not happy all the time. I have really bad days too,' He said. 'But when I see you it's not so bad anymore.'

He just had to say that, Robert thought. Robert also soon found that it was contagious. The happiness that the monkey-boy emitted stuck to him and he carried that with him for the rest of the day.

The second aspect was that he had a very pronounced bubble butt. Robert didn't know how he could've missed it after all these years. Robert first noticed it when he was feeling a little extra frisky. He walked into his and Detweilers room (the two of them managed to get a room together half way in the fall semester of Roberts senior year) and found the monkey-boy lying in bed, studying. Robert thought that he looked like he needed to take a break. Pouncing on him much like a lion, he began to give the younger male a back massage. Starting from his shoulders Robert made his way down his back.

Eventually he worked his way down to his lower back. He stopped when he accidently made it to the younger male's bottom. Instead of pulling away to avoid any awkwardness that might arise, Robert squeezed his hands. After ten minutes, Robert still found himself still squeezing.

"Is there any reason why you're groping me?" TJ asked him. "I'm not in the mood for sex if that's what you're after."

"It's not that," Robert said. "You…have an _ass_!"

"Well thank you for pointing out the obvious….."

"You have a bubble butt!" Robert exclaimed, giving him a slap on the bottom. "Damn!" He continued the groped the male underneath him, eventually moving up to his back again. Lying on top of the monkey-boy he began to kiss him on the neck to distract him from his studying. Seeing that he was being ignored, Robert moved up to his ear and started to nibble at it.

"I have to study….." TJ whined. "Get off…"

"You always study," Robert said. "Take a break!"

"I can't afford to take a break," TJ said. "You know that."

"You're no fun!" Robert huffed, lifting himself up. "I'm gonna keep groping you."

"Fine. Just don't interrupt me." Smiling, Robert occupied himself for the next few hours by groping the monkey-boy. After his amazing discovery, whenever the two of them were walking together, Robert put his hand in the monkey-boy's back pocket, and whenever they separated, Robert gave him a firm slap on the butt.

At first, TJ didn't know what was going on in Robert's head, but remembered that no one did and decided to go along with it.


	21. Chapter 21

It was a rare occasion when TJ and Robert actually found time to just sit on the couch and watch TV. The two of them had extremely busy schedules that made it difficult to relax, let alone spend time together. Although Robert had graduated college a year ago, he decided to go into politics his junior year and was in graduate school. Meanwhile, TJ was working in pre-law and was trying to get his grades up to go to Law school. Between studying, eating, sleeping, and their jobs, the two of them barely managed to say two words to each other even though they shared an apartment.

But today was different. The two of them, by some strange miracle, had no work to do his weekend. And because they were divulged in nothing but work lately, they decided to do the most childish thing they could think of; watching Saturday morning cartoons while eating sugar-filled cereal. Sitting on the couch, Robert was flipping through the channels while TJ was watching and eating a bowl of Captain Crunch.

"Will you pick something already?" TJ asked him between bites. "Before they stop showing cartoons?"

"Look I'm trying my best!" Said Robert. "There isn't anything good on! Oh, wait. Here's something…" He stopped flipping through the channels and settled on Nickelodeon and the opening theme to _Jimmy Neutron_ was playing.

"No!" Shouted TJ as he grabbed the remote out of Roberts hand. "We're not watching this crap!" Pushing two buttons the channel changed to Boomerang and the theme song to _Dexter's Laboratory_ was beginning. "That's better."

"What the hell?" Robert said. "I'm not watching this! Turn it back!"

"No way," TJ told him. " _Jimmy Neutron_ is stupid. He's just a rip-off of _Dexter_!"

"He is not! He's completely different and original." Robert snapped.

"How is he any different from _Dexter?"_ Asked TJ. "The two of them are exactly alike! They both have secret labs, except just about everyone knows about _Jimmy's_ because he's stupid, and the both of them have evil genius as enemies, except Mandark is much better than that evil baby."

" _Jimmy_ has a life!" Robert retorted. "He has friends and not EVERY SINGLE EPISODE is about him and his inventions! And he's not stuck in his lab every day!"

"At least him inventions doesn't backfire!" Shouted TJ. " _Dexter's_ inventions always work! Unlike _Jimmy's_ who fail more times than not."

" _Dexter_ started to suck after it came back after being cancelled for two years! Did you see what they did to the drawing style? It completely murdered any dignity that show had!"

"Dignity?" TJ shouted. "You wanna talk about dignity? What about all the dignity that _Jimmy Neutron_ lost after doing those stupid crossovers with _The Fairly Oddparents?_ Everyone knows that a show becomes shitty when they start doing crossovers!" interrupting their argument was a loud knock on the door. The two of them, not wanting to be outdone by the other, went to the door and opened it so see a very tired looking Spinelli standing outside.

"I don't know what you two are fighting about," She calmly said. "And I really do not care. First you keep me up all night with your disgusting sex noises and now you don't have the courtesy to be quiet the morning after. If the two of you want to live to see the next five minutes you will shut the fuck up. Got it?" The two of them nodded. "Good. I'm going back to bed and I expect their to be silence when I get there." With that she turned to her left and walked over to her apartment right next to theirs. Know that they should take every warning from Spinelli seriously, they sat back down and started to look though the channels again.

"I won this argument," TJ mumbled.

"That is bullshit!" Robert Screamed.

"WHAT DID I JUST SAY?" Spinelli shouted through the wall.

"You're gonna get us killed," TJ whispered. "Keep your voice down. We'll just find something we can both watch. Look, _Codename: Kids Next Door_ is on."

"Well turn it on. I love that show!"


	22. Chapter 22

Trying to understand Robert wasn't more difficult than when it became time to figure out what he wanted for his birthday. He wasn't the type of guy you would by a card for just in case you could find anything else. No, when you had to get him a present you either had to get him exactly what he wanted or not get him anything at all. Even then, you can only skip out on so many birthday gifts before that gets him upset. So TJ was stuck with the task of finding out what exactly Robert wanted.

This was especially hard for him to because Robert wouldn't tell him what he wanted when he asked. When it became obvious that any attempt to trick him into tell was not going to work, TJ went as far as taking Robert's laptop to Gretchen and having her hack into it. Even still, he found nothing. Robert's laptop was filled with class work, pictures, and the occasional porn video, but nothing that could help him on his quest.

Having mercy on the younger male, Robert decided to give him a clue on what he wanted; what he wanted couldn't be bought, but he could still give it. This confused TJ, and he just decided to buy his boyfriend a card and thought that if Robert really wanted what he did, he would tell him.

After working overtime for a few weeks, TJ managed to save enough money to take the two of them out for dinner at the town's fanciest restaurant.

"You're really not going to tell me what you want," TJ asked him as he took a bite of his spaghetti. "Even after all this time?"

"You should've figured it out by now," Robert said. "The clue should've been enough. Only _you_ wouldn't get it, Detweiler….."

"Is it sex? You always want sex…."

"Something like that…" Robert said, taking a sip of his drink. He watched as the male in front of him slurped a stray noodle. For a moment, He actually thought about telling the monkey-boy about what he _really_ wanted, but knew that if he did, the answer he would get would be a very loud 'no.' However, Robert knew that if he asked at just the right moment he could increase his chances of getting a yes, so he decided to wait. "If you can't figure out what it is I'll settle for sex in my car."

"I bet that's what you wanted this whole time," TJ mumbled. After paying the bill, the couple headed out to Roberts car a drove out to a secluded area. Climbing into the back seat the two of them began to kiss, steaming up the windows. Wrapping their arms around each other, they pulled into a tighter embrace before Robert broke the kiss.

"You _really_ don't know what I want?" Robert asked.

"No," Said TJ. "What? Are you finally gonna tell me?" Robert nodded and whispered what he wanted in the younger males year. "NO WAY! I'M NOT DOING THAT!"

"C'mon, it's my birthday," Robert whined. "You said you would give me anything I wanted and I want that!"

"I didn't think it would be that!"

"It's easy, I promise monkey-boy," Said Robert. "It's like licking a lollipop."

"Well that's a nice way to put it," TJ snapped. "But I'm still not doing it."

"Please? For me?" Robert hugged and kissed him, something that he always did to get TJ to do what he wanted. "I love you….."

"Fine," TJ mumbled. "I'll do it. But I hate you."

"Good!" Robert said with a smile. "Now I have certain requests—"

" _REQUESTS?"_

"Yes," Robert said calmly. "You gotta keep going for twenty minutes. I would say longer but this is your first time so I'm going easy on you."

"Gee, thanks….."

"And you gotta swallow."

"Like hell I will!" TJ screamed. "You're asking too much!"

"You already promised," Robert said as he leaned back in his seat. "And I know how you are with promises. Now get to work! And….go slowly."

"I can't believe this," TJ mumbled as he started to unbuckle Robert's belt. "This is the last time I'm doing this."

"Shhh," Robert said softly. Running his finger through TJ hair he pushed his head towards the target. "Be careful and don't choke….."


	23. Chapter 23

When trying to describe others, TJ normally used phrases instead of individual words. He believed that five words described a person much better than one word did, and that one word could be taken multiple ways. With a phrase, the words describe each other to come up with one meaning. But then there was one person that he could only use one word to describe, no matter how hard he tried. And out of the 30 words he used to describe Robert, one was on top of the list every single day of the year.

Bossy.

Oh yes, that was the perfect word for him. Bossy. Not controlling, not manipulative even though he could argue that was a good word too, and not a self-centered son of a bitch, but bossy. Robert was always bossy.

When they were having people over and Robert told him to clean up while he sat on the couch watching cartoons, or the time he declared him his bitch in high school, or even the numerous times he demanded a sandwich with a side of bar-b-que potato chips and a cigarette after sex (although TJ argued that he needed it more than Robert did), Robert was being bossy in the most asshole-ish way possible and it pissed TJ off each of those times.

He asked himself who the hell Robert thought he was bossing him around like some servant? This relationship was supposed to be equal; equal work, equal rewards, and equal amount of pushing around. TJ repeatedly voiced his opinion to Robert who said that he should be more assertive and then things would fall in place. So that's what he did. The next time they were arguing who would do the dishes or the laundry, TJ demanded that Robert was going to do it, but Robert, who had more experience with assertiveness, walked him into a corner, whispered in his ear, and touched him in _just_ the right places that was somewhere on his back and mid-thigh. The next thing he knew, TJ was standing at the sink rinsing off a plate.

But he never stayed mad at Robert for long because, like him, he was able to charm his way out of any animosity.

TJ wondered why in the hell did he stay with him when he was being bossy. It got on his nerves, and there were numerious time when he yelled and screamed at Robert for what he was doing. And even after he screamed and yelled, things would go right back to normal. But Robert still showed that he loved him whenever it was possible in ways that others looking at them would not understand.

Maybe it was his experience as king of the playground that instilled that in Robert's bossiness; fearlessly bossing the students around on a daily basis is easy to get used to. Or maybe he just felt that because he was older that he had the right to boss him around the way he did.

Either way, it was part of the reason TJ loved him.


	24. Chapter 24

Looking down, Robert gazed upon the wavy brown forest with a mixture of awe and hatred. It grew so slowly that he didn't notice it at first, but now I was all he could think about. What he was looking at was his boyfriend's hair.

It wasn't _this_ bad at first. It started out on his shoulders, maybe a little longer. But then it grew past his shoulders, and then it reached his lower back. And Robert _HATED_ it. He himself had a thing for guys with long hair, but this was ridiculous. Why the monkey-boy had let his hair grow out this long was anyone's guess. Robert had tried numerous times to ask him why he wouldn't get it cut but he never got an answer. But he was thankful that Detweiler kept it pulled back in a low ponytail.

In his left hand Robert opened and closed a pair of scissors, and in his right hand, a comb. In front of him, TJ was lying in bed sleeping away, blissfully unaware of the crazed male above him. Robert had planned this night for weeks. For the last few days, the monkey-boy had nothing but homework and had been drinking energy drinks to keep himself awake. He finally crashed a few hours ago and Robert carried him to bed. Setting down the scissors on the nightstand, he grabbed the bottom of the younger boy's hair and started to comb it from the bottom up. Luckily, TJ was an extremely heavy sleeper.

Once the tangles and knots were combed out it was longer than before. Robert sighed and thought about how much he was going to cut off. The two of them were still young; Robert was 23 and TJ was 21. So he didn't need to make it short for a job or anything. But he didn't want it to be anywhere as long as it is now. Using a rubber band he pulled his hair back to the length he decided on. He cut off the rest of his hair and threw it away in the trash can and began to style it how he liked it.

~*~TIME LAPSE~*~

Standing up straight an hour later Robert looked at his hard work. He had put the monkey-boys hair in a low ponytail, and his hair only reached down to the bottom of his shoulder blades. He had also given him bangs in the middle of his forehead so that when he wore his hat, he still had hair that came out of the opening like before.

"You better like it, Detweiler," Robert whispered as he climbed in his side of the bed. With a yawn he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

~*~THE NEXT MORNING~*~

Climbing out of bed, TJ rubbed his eyes as he made his way to the bathroom. Like every day he passed the dresser, the giant pile of textbooks on the floor, entered the bathroom where he passed the mirror that he saw is mane of hair—

'Hold on," TJ thought to himself after he passed the mirror. Taking a few steps back he went to see what he thought was his mind playing tricks on him, but it was no such thing. Instead of his usual forest of tangled hair was a much more neat and clean cut. He blinked, and blinked again, trying to figure what the hell happened to his hair between the time he went to sleep and the time he woke up. Then it hit him. Robert had been complaining for the last few weeks for him to get a haircut. He had even threatened to cut it all off while he wasn't paying attention. Walking back into the room he shook the sleeping male.

"What?" Robert whined. "What do you want?"

"What did you do to my hair?" TJ screamed at him.

"I made it presentable," Robert said. "You don't like it? I kept it long…"

"Like it? _Like it?"_ TJ repeated. "I love it actually. It nice."

"…really?"

"Yeah. It's still long, but not how it was before. So thank you."

"….you're welcome?" Robert said, confused with the monkey-boys reaction. He watched he made his way back into the bathroom and closed the door, happy with what was on top of his head.


	25. Chapter 25

There was one side of Robert that the normal people around him saw and based on that they decided whether or not they liked him. Then there was the side of him that only TJ got to see. This side was reserved for people he cared about and loved. Even though Robert probably loved him since Third Street, TJ only saw that side of Robert a few years ago.

It was a day-long event when the softer side of Robert showed. Their apartment building had been temporarily closed because of large bee infestation growing in the walls. The two of them had moved out a few weeks before the building was shut down because bee's kept getting in their apartment and no matter how hard they tried, bee's kept getting in. Because he feared for his health, TJ left on the third day.

After hitting a beehive, the bee's chased him down and he was stung. Seconds later he found that he couldn't breathe and he blacked out. When he finally came to, he was in the hospital and that day he learned he was allergic to bees. After that incident he and his friends were given an Epipen so that if he ever got stung again, they could stab it in his thigh and he would be okay.

Once Robert learned about his allergy, whenever they were walking outside and a bee came close, he kept them away while he wrapped an around the younger males waist to keep him even closer. Robert hated bee stings but he would be damned if his boyfriend ever got stung. TJ had told him that he had an Epipen just in case, but Robert didn't want to take any chances. This display of overprotection showed TJ just how far Robert was willing to go for his safety, and how he only did that for him. But that wasn't the issue on hand.

The issue was that TJ's paper was due in two days, and it was on his laptop, which he accidently left in their apartment that was closed until the end of the week. The paper was worth half of his grade in his capstone class of his major. It made the difference in whether or not he graduated. While he sat in the free hotel room that the landlord paid for, he tried to come up with ways to explain why he wasn't going to graduate, Robert was climbing the stairs of the apartment building.

He could hear the buzzing coming from the walls, and thought about turning back. But he knew how important this paper was for his boyfriend and kept marching on. Reaching their door he turned the key, and struggled to not run as he saw the sight inside. Bees were everywhere; they were clustered in the corners, flying and landing on the furniture, and humming around in the air. He ran through the hallway and rushed into the bedroom where TJ always kept his laptop. It sat on the bed, barely recognizable by the coat of bees that covered it. With one swipe of his arm the bee's went flying. He grabbed the computer and ran out of the room and apartment with bees stinging him.

By the time the bees left him alone Robert had too many stingers stuck in his skin to count. Closing the door to his hotel room, he tossed the laptop on his bed and laid down next to it, allowing himself to rest after his adventure.

"What happened to you?" Robert looked up and saw TJ standing in front of the door.

"Bees happened to me," He said lying his head back down. "You're laptops right here."

"You went in our apartment for me?" Tj asked as he picked up the laptop on the bed. Robert nodded. "That was really nice of you, Bobby, Thank you." Leaning down he gave the worn out male a kiss on his forehead. "But you have stingers stuck in your skin. Hold on…" Standing up TJ walked into the bathroom and came out with a pair of tweezers in hand. Sitting next to Robert he pulled shirt off of the younger male to reveal his chest and arms covered in stingers. He rested Roberts head on his lap and began to slowly remove the stingers covering his face. "You didn't have to do this you know."

"Yes I did," Robert mumbled, wincing as each stinger was removed. "You need that paper to graduate. And I wasn't going to let you get stung."

"I want to make it up to you—"

"Don't worry about it, monkey-boy."

"But I have something for you!" TJ reached down beside the bed and pulled something out of a bag. "Look what I found in the trash!" Robert opened his eyes and looked at what was being held in front of him. It was a faded yellow, had small holes on both sides, and there was a barely recognizable red 'B' on the front.

"Is that….my old crown?" Robert asked. "How'd you get a hold of that?"

"I was just walking down the street," Said TJ. "It was on top of a trashcan. I couldn't believe it when I saw it! I grabbed it and cleaned it off and it was the same crown you wore in sixth grade. Can you believe that?"

"Hell no," Robert mumbled. He took the crown and looked it over. It was in fact his crown. What he was wondering about was why it was in the trash. The crown was passed down to the next heir to the throne and should be resting on the head of Third Streets current King or Queen. He fingers brushed over a large crack on the back and he could see why it was discarded. But it wasn't' trash to him; it was treasure. And all it really needed was a little work. Some new yellow paint, a few brush strokes over the 'B', maybe some plaster to fix the crack and it would as good as new. "I missed this thing….," He lifted it up and placed it on its rightful place on his head. Surprisingly it still fit. "It still feels the same. Thanks monkey-boy. I never thought I would see this thing again."

"No problem," TJ said, pulling the last stinger out of Roberts skin. "I'm all done. You can get up now."

"I think," Robert pondered. "I think I wanna just stay like this for a little longer."


	26. Chapter 26

There were only few things in the world that annoyed TJ. He was able to ignore the little thinks that made normal people lose their minds. people who cut you off in traffic and flipped you the bird, those plastic casings they put things in that takes all of your energy to figure out how to open, and even those people who felt the need to tell you a bunch of random facts about shit you didn't ask about; those were easy to get over. Though when something did get on his nerves, it probably was not that way before.

Usually, it started out as something he liked, and was even fond of before. But something changed over time and it became something he wanted to go away. In this case, it was the nickname Robert had bestowed upon him in elementary school.

It wasn't as if he didn't like it; the name 'monkey-boy' _was_ nice, even cute. But it was given to a child and he was not a child anymore. Now, each and every time he was called that by his boyfriend it would upset him and he would cross his arms in anger. But he didn't want to tell Robert that he couldn't call him by that name anymore. He really seemed to like that nickname; why else would he have kept it for so long? So in an attempt to give Robert a nickname, TJ mulled over a few ideas, but none of them were good enough to keep. Finally one day he had enough and confronted Robert about how he felt.

"What do you mean you hate it?" Robert asked him in disbelief. The two of them were lying in bed with nothing but a towel on. A few minutes ago they had gotten out of a shower that they shared just for the hell of it. Robert had tried to move things towards a more intimate direction, but because he kept calling TJ monkey-boy, he was pushed away. "I've always called you that. What's wrong with it now?"

"I didn't say I hated it, it's just childish," TJ sat, lifting his head from Robert's chest to look up at him. "It's nice and everything but it's a childish name. I'm not a kid anymore."

"But I _do_ like it," Robert said. "I can't drop a name I called you for what, eleven years, and forget about it!"

"You can come with something new," TJ told him. "It's can't be too hard."

"Like what?" Robert asked him. "What could I possibly come up with?" TJ shrugged and laid his head back down on the older male's chest. The two of them were still warm from the bath and heat radiated off of them, each feeling the steam as it came off their skin. Running his fingers through TJ's now short hair, Robert tried to come up with a new pet-name for him. Why did he give him the one he had? That's right it fit him. When he gave it to him, he was a crazy, energetic, playful kid; the word monkey fit him to a tee.

Looking down he thought about words that would describe him now. He was strong, not as good as Robert himself was, but still strong. And he was smart; anyone who made their way through law school without going crazy had to be smart in some way. But he was still terribly naïve and trusting of others for his age and Robert had to remind him that not everyone had the best intentions for him. One time the two of them went to a club and while Robert was away for a few minutes another guy started to hit on TJ. Part of that included pushing drinks on him and getting him drunk. Robert had gotten back just in time to see a very intoxicated TJ being led away by the stranger. Luckily he was able to pull him away before he was taken outside.

"I can't think of a new name," Robert finally said. "You'll just have to deal with 'monkey-boy,' Detweiler."

"Come on, you can think of something." TJ told him. "And stop calling me by last name too! What do you look like calling me by my last name after we've been officially dating for seven years?"

"Look I'll call you whatever I want!" He yelled losing his temper. "You're my bitch! I'll call you any damn thing I please!"

"Not this whole thing again," TJ whined. "I thought we've been through this already…"

"I know! Do we have to through it again for you to understand that I'm in charge?"

"You're not 'in charge.' This relationship is equal. I just don't want to be called monkey-boy anymore."

"What's it gonna take for you to let me keep calling you that?" Robert asked him.

"What would it take," TJ pondered. There was a lot of things he wanted from Robert; a massage, a day where he did all the chores, dinner cooked by him, maybe even a certain type of ring on his finger. But what would be good enough for him to let Robert keep his pet-name. "Let me top tonight."

" _You_ top?" Robert asked, surprised at the request. "You want to top?" TJ nodded. "Fine, if it means I keep calling you monkey-boy."

"Good," TJ said with a smile. "But not right now. You're really warm and I don't wanna let go."


	27. Chapter 27

After living an apartment next to TJ and Robert for three years, Spinelli learned more about the two of them than she really needed (or wanted) to know. The building as relatively old and the walls were not as thick as one would think allowing words from one apartment to travel to the ones around it. But the couple had an apartment on the end of a hall, and Spinelli had the one next to it, so she was alone in her misfortune. She wanted to move out, but this was the only apartment she could afford at the moment, and it was really close to her job. Besides, gas was getting expensive, and the AC never went out during the summer like other complexes making this place a steal.

A few weeks after moving in, Spinelli learned that five days out of the week she was not going to get a peaceful night's sleep because of her neighbor's sexual activities. The thin walls allowed for each and every grunt, moan, scream, sigh, command, demand, name, and cry to seep into her apartment. It wasn't as if she didn't expect the two of them to not have sex; just not as _loud_ as they did. There were times went she was wondering exactly what the hell they were doing. But that became easier after a couple of months. She could soon tell what they were doing.

Robert was a talker and he was able to say full sentences during their activities. They weren't as long as normal sentences but they were clear and coherent. Depending on what he was saying what they were doing was easy to figure out along with what TJ was saying. But TJ didn't really _talk_ ; he was a moaner and couldn't say a sentence to save his life. If he wasn't making any noise at all, either Robert was making himself _talk_ , or the younger male's mouth was occupied. But the thing she didn't want to know about the most was that the two of them had a sadomasochism thing going on. She didn't know the details of it but whenever the crack of a whip accompanied the normal noises from their apartment, they were at it again.

It wasn't as if Spinelli wanted to know this much out the two of them; she was forced to, like a child forced to learn which color was which. She wanted more than anything for the sounds she heard to be erased from her memory but that was not an option. Luckily, that wasn't to only thing she learned about the two of them.

She learned that Robert was bossy and thought that he was the dominant one in their relationship although from her perspective she knew that TJ manipulated him in ways he didn't know. She knew that TJ could be persuaded to do just about anything if you fed him chocolate ice cream when you asked. She also knew that he was worried about his and Robert's future together.

Robert was also a real softie even if he tried to act tough. It only took a few hugs and kisses to break through that facade. He was also a secret romantic, not hesitating to cook a candlelight dinner whenever he made TJ upset over one thing or another. The former king also had a big surprise for her friend but she couldn't make out what that was.

As much as the two of them annoyed the hell out of her, Spinelli preferred that they kept whatever they fought about in their apartment. If they had a big enough argument doors would be slammed, and her door would be getting knocked on by TJ who would then spend the next few hours telling her how terrible of a person Robert is, only to go back over to his apartment and make up with him.

It was because of this that she hoped the two of them never broke up.


	28. Chapter 28

Lighting the last candle, Robert blow out the match and stepped back to look over at the table he had set. The best dishes were out, the best bottle of wine was sitting in a small bucket of ice, and the best damn pizza in whole damn city that cost an arm, a leg, and eye, and three internal organs was in the oven. He had been planning this day for weeks and everything was going perfectly. Of course for any of this to happen he had to get Detweiler out of the apartment and he had to get recruits; who better than his friends? It took a lot of persuading _girl who runs with fists_ to help, and she still wouldn't do it. Only after telling her his intentions she agreed to not only take TJ very far away for the day but to get the others to help.

Combing the tangles out his hair he looked in his mirror and straightens his shirt. It wasn't much, but it would due. Opening his cell phone he sent Spinelli a text message telling her it was okay for him to come home. Looking around the apartment he saw that it was messy from having two males as residents. Robert spent the next hour cleaning up and looking out the window for TJ and his friends. Once he saw them walking down the sidewalk and into the building he threw out the last piece of thrash and checked his pocket for what was the most important item in his entire plan.

~*~TJ'S POV~*~

"Where are you guys dragging me now?" With one arm being pulled ahead of him, TJ walked to keep up and to prevent it from being torn from his body. Seven hours ago he was unexpectedly visited by his friends (which was in itself fine because they all hadn't been together for about year) who then preceded to pull him to his feet and lead (read: drag) him around town. It didn't help at all that Robert was pushing him out the door as much as his friends were pushing, but decided not to fight because it was six against one. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that they were up to something.

TJ tried to ask them what they were up to, and they only answered nothing and asked why they couldn't just spend a day together. Knowing that the conversation was going to go in circles if he continued to question them, he kept his mouth shut.

"There's this parade today," Spinelli said as she tugged for him to keep up. "And I want to see it."

"A _parade?_ How old are we again?" TJ asked her. "Besides I never thought you were one for parades…"

"Well I am now!" She told him. "I wonder what's in this parade…."

"The tournament of roses is in town today," Said Gretchen. "It should be really nice." The six of them stopped at a crowd of people who were looking out into the street. They pushed their way through the crowd to get a clearer view of the floats making their way down the street. The six of them had no real interest in the parade, but in the attempt to distract TJ, the other five pretended that it was. He was still bored even in the presence of overly happy friends.

A ring came from Spinelli''s pocket and TJ watched as she pulled out her phone and begin to write a text message. The glare from the sun made it impossible for him to read what was on the screen.

"This is kinda boring," She mumbled. "Let's go back to your place."

"It's about time," TJ said. "What are guys up to? You show up out of nowhere and drag me around town for no apparent reason…." He trailed of as they left the parade and headed back down the street.

~*~Robert's POV~*~

The sound of the lock being turned brought Robert out of his daze and he stood up to greet the confused male being pushed inside by his friends who then closed the door behind him.

"How was your day today, love?" Robert asked a little too enthusiastically. TJ looked at him, not believing what was just said.

"…..It was fine, even though you pushed me out the door." Looking behind Robert he saw that the table was set and candles were lit. "What's all this for?"

"It for us," Robert said. "Come on sit down. I got dinner for us." As he walked into the kitchen Robert looked back and watched TJ sit at the table. Everything was going well, and if it continued to go the way he planned, today would be a very successful day. Pulling out the phone he saw that he had a message from Spinelli.

_Girls Who Runs With Fists: What's going on n there?_

_Robert: I gotta work my way up 2 it. Gimme 20 minutes._

_Girl Who Runs With Fists: We're all w8ing out here_

_Robert: Y_

_Girl Who Runs With Fists: u didn't think we would miss this did u?_

"Everything okay in there?" TJ voice brought Robert back to the moment. Putting away his phone Robert took the pizza out of the oven and came back into to the table.

"Everything's perfect," Robert said, putting the pizza on the table. "Just perfect."

"Is this the dinner you had planned? A pizza?"

"Not just any pizza," Robert said as he took his seat. "The best damn pizza in the city. That really expensive one that we had that one time, remember?"

"How can I not?" TJ mumbled. "One slice cost me 30 dollars. It was kinda worth it though." For the next five minutes the two of them ate in silence. TJ was wonder what Robert had done this time. It was only when he had broken something of his or if he messed up the car in an unimaginable way that he would be _this_ nice towards him. It had to have been really big this time to use his friends to get him out for the day to prepare. But at the moment he was not going to think about it; the pizza was too good and it took all of his attention to focus on how good it tasted.

"I wanna dance," Robert said standing up.

"Dance?" TJ asked with his mouth full of pizza. "Why? I'm trying to eat…"

"C'mon," He said, pulling TJ to his feet. "It'll be fun."

"There isn't even any music….."

"Just let me lead," Robert whispered. "We don't need music to dance." Wrapping his arms around the younger male, Robert led the way of a very unorganized waltz. Without music to set the rhythm foots were stepped on. After having his foot stepped on for the fifth time, TJ pulled back.

"What's all this about?" TJ asked him. "First you want me out of the house and now you're trying to dance with me."

"I can't dance with the person I love?"

"I can't tell after you pushed me out the door…."

"You know I love you," Robert said, pulling TJ back towards him. "Right?"

"I know," Said TJ. "You just have odd ways of showing it."

"I love you," Robert said, hugging him. "I really do. And I know I have the inability of no being able to show it in a good way, so the best way I can tell you that I do is to just say it. I love you, I want to keep loving you for the rest of my life and I hope you feel the same way because I want to ask you to marry me." Not believing what he heard, TJ stepped down and out of Roberts grasp.

"…W-what?"

"Marry me, monkey-boy." What happened next was the last thing Robert expected. He had expected an eruption of laugher, or being asked if this was a joke, even a slap across the face seemed more like than this. Two seconds of uninterrupted silence passed without and answer and Robert was about to ask if everything was okay but before he got the question out it was answered by TJ fainting. He was close enough for Robert to catch him before he hit the ground. "I didn't take you for a person that faints, Detweiler…" Carefully, he carried him over to the couch and laid him down. He then turned to the door and when he opened it five curious adults fell inside. "You can come in," Robert said dryly. "He passed out."

"What do you mean he _passed out?_ " asked Vince as he and the other got to their feet.

"He passed out," Robert repeated pointing to the couch where he laid TJ. "Fainted just like those women do in the movies. I didn't expect _that_. Still, thanks for the help."

"No problem, King Bob," Spinelli told him. "It's about time you two got married."

"I don't even know if we're getting married yet. Won't know until he wakes up. How long do you think it'll be? Or is he like snow white and if you kiss him, he'll wake up? You know," Robert began as he stood over the unconscious body. "I worked really hard for this day. I took an unpaid day off of work, I spend a pay check on a ring, I spent an ungodly amount on that pizza, and you go and faint. _FAINT_! Of all things, you _faint!_ You just better wake up soon before I get mad….." Adding to the list of things Robert didn't expect was TJ beginning to open his eyes.

"…..what happened?" TJ asked, dazed.

"You fainted," Robert told him. "You fainted hard."

"Fainted? Why did I faint?"

"'Cause I asked you to marry me."

"Marry you?"

"Yep. I love you monkey-boy. Will you marry me?" Before giving the eager former king an answer, TJ looked at him, his friends standing behind him, and back at Robert again. This was all a set up, right from the beginning. He should've seen in coming; these things happen all the time in the movies. Finally he took a deep breath and gave Robert and answer.

"No."

" _WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO?"_ Spinelli yelled. "We dragged you around town for seven **_HOURS_** so this son of a bitch gets ready, and you're answer is **_no_**? This is not up to you! The two of you are getting married and moving out so I can get a peaceful nights sleep! Do you know the last time I got a good nights sleep?" She continued to yell at them as she was being dragged into the back by the others, leaving the two men behind.

"N-no?" Robert asked, shocked at the answer. "Why not?"

"Because you're always the one in charge and making most of the decisions. I wanted to be in charge for once," TJ explained. "I was going to ask _you_ to marry _me._ " HE reached into his pocket and pulled out a small square box. "It's not fair…."

"Is that all? Does it really matter?" Robert asked him. "Either way we'll still get married."

"It matters to me!"

"Okay, then what if we both proposed to each other?" Robert suggested. "That way we both win? Please, I just want us to get married!" After moment of silence, TJ nodded. "Good! Now," Robert got down on one knee next to the couch were TJ still laid down. "TJ Detweiler, will you marry me?"

"Of course I will. I've been wondering if you were ever going to ask," said TJ. "Will you marry me, King Bob?" His answer was a tight hug from the former king. He hugged back, and the two of them only pulled apart at the sound of clapping coming from the hall.


	29. Chapter 29

Months passed, seasons changed, and the date for the wedding had finally been decided after much debate. Because the Robert and TJ preferred different seasons (Robert loved the summer while TJ couldn't explain why he loved winter) the date that they each wanted were _very_ far apart. Robert wanted July 7th, and TJ favored December 12th. The two of them were in a constant debate since they were engaged, and because of that they couldn't make any plans.

So they argued for months, making no progress while annoying anyone who might be within earshot. Soon they realized that the other was not going to budge, and decided to settle on something in between; autumn, October 1st. It was cool enough for TJ, but still warm enough for Robert. Unbeknownst to the two of them that was the easiest problem they were going to face.

One of the issues that TJ brought up was the fact that _still_ lived in an apartment. He was now 24, and Robert was 26. In his mind, TJ thought that they should buy a house and move, but Robert didn't want to. TJ argued that the two of them together had more than enough money to buy a house, especially with Robert's job as mayor's assistant and his own job as a paralegal. Robert had actually agreed they should move, but not into the house TJ wanted.

TJ wanted a big house, one that Robert not only thought it was too big, but also thought that it didn't suit the two of them to live 'high and mighty' above everyone else. To explain why he wanted a five bedroom house, TJ said it was because the rooms were for the kids, which brought up another issue. He wanted _a lot_ of kids; eight to be exact. Robert wanted a lot of kids too, but only three or four; eight was way too much in his eyes even if he liked kids. But still, they agreed that they wanted a lot of kids and because of that the two of them bought a house and began to pack their boxes.

The next issue that Robert faced alone was, as he put it, TJ switching genders. Once it was time for them to find caterers, cake, decorations, music, and all other things for the wedding, Robert saw TJ's inner bitch. First it was the food. Robert didn't care what was being served, but TJ cared, a little too much. He cared about what was served, whether there was wine or champagne right down to the brand, what the food was being served on, how the food looked on the plates, what silverware was being used, and even how long before the wedding the food was going to be cooked. He didn't take suggestions from the wedding planner either; he came with his own list of things he wanted and was not going to take compromises. Soon he was screaming at the wedding planner for making small suggestions to make the day go by smoother, and Robert only got him to calm down after saying that he can't be sure any of what he wanted to happen _could_ happen until they decided on a location.

They needed somewhere big, big enough for all their old classmates when Robert was king. At least the reception area has to be really big; the actually wedding and reception could take place in different spots. When choosing a place for the actual wedding one place came to mind: Third Street Elementary. What better place than where they first met? The reception was planned to take place at the community center a few blocks away.

Now that they knew the places, TJ's inner bitch showed came into light while showing its fangs and claws when it came to deciding the decorations. The theme was to be a 'Royal' wedding (What else would it be?), and they had to pick out the particular colors and where everything went. Everything was going fine until the wrong colored chairs were put out. TJ went on a manhunt to find who made the mistake and one he found them, screamed them into a corner for the misunderstanding. After Robert pulled him aside and allowed his victim to escape he asked the younger male, "Who busted your balls?"

While TJ showed the world that he was top bitch with a smile Robert wondered how and why he was acting like a bridezilla. He only saw this on TV and he even thought that it was fake then. Those overly dramatic brides, brides as in _females_ , had to be faking it for the show. They just had to! But now he had his doubts. Detweiler couldn't be one of them, no, that couldn't be. But then something happened that assured Robert that he had lost his mind.

Because it was a wedding, coordinating dresses had to be worn by the women, though like everything else Robert didn't care, and the only two women were Spinelli and Gretchen. Still, TJ insisted that they match. After Spinelli whispered to Gretchen about him "Getting in touch with his inner homosexual," they agreed. The four of them spent an entire day in a boutique going through the stores entire inventory before settling on a mid-thigh length light yellow dress with one strap around the left shoulder, and was tight at the top and loose from the waist down. TJ, Spinelli, and Gretchen agreed that out of all the dresses this looked the best. Robert still didn't care either way.

Looking over the girls one last time before they changed, TJ spotted something with Spinelli's dress that he didn't like, and since he was in bitch mode, he told her exactly what he thought.

"Your boobs are too big," He said. "Do you think you can get a reduction in time for the wedding?"

" _WHAT?"_ Spinelli snapped, sending a death glare his way, placing her hands on her hips and taking a defensive stance. Looking up from his book, Robert watched with interest.

"You have like, double D's and their popping out of your dress," Said TJ. "Do you think you can get it done for the wedding?"

"First of all," She paused and stepped forward, sending a firm slap across his face. "Second of all," She paused again to send a swift kick to his groin. She stepped back and watched TJ fall to his knees and cringe in pain. "If you don't like it then you shouldn't have picked it! I'm wearing it whether you like it or not!"

"Okay, okay!" He said, slowing getting back to his feet. "Sorry! But in all seriousness those have to be killing your back. It's always the tough girls that get the biggest chest…" Before anymore bodily harm could be inflicted upon him, TJ hid behind his fiancé. After few quick words with Spinelli, Robert had gotten her to agree to not hurt TJ and once the girls had gone to go get changed gave the younger male a harsh glare.

"What the hell are you doing?" Robert whispers harshly. "We're trying to ask her a _very_ important question and you spout out something like that! She's never going to agree to it if you keep doing this!"

"Look, _Bobby_ ," TJ whispered back. "It just came out and I apologized. Like a gentleman. Besides she was probably going to say no anyway." Robert didn't get a chance to say anything back because the girls came back out.

As the wedding date grew near, TJ's inner bitch receded, and normality found its place in the couples lives. Once all the boxes had been moved to their new house, they began unpacking to avoid having to do it after the wedding. Robert had managed to by a king-sized (it _would_ be king-sized) bed for the two of them. But that was just about the only piece of furniture in the house. Their old table had fallen apart into an unfixable pile of wood and the couch was just nasty. So they still had to by couches, tables, and proper silverware. They even had to pick out desks and shelves for their office; with the off them having demanding jobs they needed a place to focus.

But that could all wait because the wedding was only a few weeks away.

~* ** _TIME LAPSE_** ~*~

It's Saturday afternoon and the sun was shining, but there was still coolness in the air. A few clouds spotted the sky, but it wasn't nearly enough to threaten those below with rain. Even if it did, TJ would've threatened right back with global warming. Outside on the playground of Third Street Elementary was every single class mate the two soon to be newlyweds had when Robert was king. They sat in chairs on the playground, which was decorated here and there, but not too much; it was a playground after all. There were however those guys who lifted their swords and let the newly married couple run through them at the bottom of the jungle gym slide (I forgot what they are called). Instead of looking forward, they looked up towards the top of the jungle gym where the king's throne would normally rest.

Instead of throne on the top, Robert and TJ stood facing one another, the both of them neatly dressed in black tuxedos and their usually messy hair combed underneath the hats the two of them wore; Robert was donning his crown and TJ refused to take off his hat. On either sides of them were the friends of the other; behind TJ a few of Roberts old friends from when he ruled stood, and TJ's friends stood behind Robert. The person standing in between them and the one who was going to marry them was, Carlos, the former Guru kid, now priest at the local church.

"We are all gathered back here today," he started. "By something I never thought I would see. And I'm sure all of you down there feel the same way because when I got my invitation in the mail I couldn't believe it. I even had to get my wife to read it because I didn't trust my own eyes. These two, Robert Crownsman, the former King Bob, ruler of the playground, and TJ Detweiler, the former prankster prince, are getting married today. And I'm the one to do it. Because I didn't know what to expect I didn't prepare much of a sermon so we should skip straight to the vows. Detweiler you go first."

"…..vows? Were we supposed to write our own?" TJ asked Robert. "I didn't really write anything down but I can try I guess. Let's see…..Ever since I was in the fourth grade you've either made my life a living hell or something very enjoyable. And there were plenty of times for me to justify a break up and never see you again. In fact, I don't even know how we made it this far."

"Vows are supposed to be _positive_ ," Robert whispered harshly to him.

"I'm getting to that just give me a minute," Said TJ. "And I think I stuck with you because whenever you should your love it was genuine, not the type of affection that's forced when you feel like your obligated. You're one determined son of a bitch and because we're both like that it's made this whole relationship even harder. But I can't think of anyone else I would rather argue with every day. That's all I got."

"And now King Bob will say his vows." Said the former guru kid.

"…Ditto?" Robert said with a smile.

"Good enough! So with the power vested in me, I pronounce the two of you…well, King and King! You may now kiss, uh, each other!" The two men stepped forward and shared a kiss, sealing their marriage. The crowd below clapped and cheered. Pulling apart the two of them took the slide down to the bottom and walked through the raised swords.

~*~ ** _AT THE RECEPTION_** ~*~

A half hour later everyone was enjoying themselves at the reception. Some were eating, and others were dancing. Meanwhile TJ and Bob sat a table separated from the others and made distinguished by the throne like seats. Across the room sat the very large wedding cake on top of a table. Robert had managed to find a baker who was willing to not only make a gay figurine to go on top of the cake but put crowns on top of their heads as well. They watched the others dance and relished in that fact that they were now married.

"I have a question," TJ said in between bites.

"And what would that be?" Robert asked him.

"It feels the same as it did before we got married," TJ told him. "Is that a good thing?"

"I think it is. It might mean we've been acting like we were married before so we know what to expect," Explained Robert. "That's how I see it."

"We're _married_ now! Can you believe it?"

"My wallet does….." Robert mumbled. "Anyways, we're a family now; a small one, but a family none the less."

"I want a big family though," said TJ. "And you want a big family too. But a small one is nice too I guess….."

"Did we ever have that conversation with…?"

"No we didn't," He said. "But she's going to say no."

"You don't know that," Robert said standing up and walking onto the floor. TJ watched as he walked over to his friends and managed to get Spinelli to go with him. Robert waved for him to come with them. The three of them walked into the back away from all the others.

"What's this all about?" Spinelli asked the newlyweds.

"We need to ask you something," Robert started.

"Even though I think you're going to say no," Said TJ, standing next to his now husband.

"And what would that be?" She asked.

"We're a family now," Robert began. "But it's a small one. And we both want a bigger family. The problem with this is that we're both guys and it's kind of impossible for us to do on our own. So we were wondering if you would mind being a surrogate for us….."

"Why me?" Spinelli asked the two.

"You're strong," Said TJ. "And we both know and trust you. Will you do it?" A long moment of silence fell in the room before the answer was given.

"Sure." The two of them hugged the surprised woman in thanks and appreciation. After getting the two of them off of her the three of them headed back out to the others and enjoyed the rest of the day.

~*~ ** _EVEN LATER_** ~*~

Wanting to keep up with tradition, Robert insisted on carrying TJ into their house. Before TJ could protest he found himself being swept off his feet and carried up the stairs to the master bedroom. After being thrown onto the bed, he watched Robert lock the door and turn to face him.

"I know we can't afford a honeymoon," Robert said. "But I'm going to make the best of what we have. We both have two weeks without work or any responsibilities, and we have plenty of time to…. _bond."_

"Bond? Whatever do you mean by _that_?" TJ laughed as Robert came over to him and pressed their lips together. The couple lay down on the bed, unbuttoning each other's jackets and shirts. Running their fingers through one another's hair their respective hats fell off their heads and they pulled themselves into a closer embrace. Robert reached over to the lamp sitting on the nightstand and turned the lights out. Tonight wasn't like all the other nights they did this. This night was different; something new was behind this night.

Tonight they made love.


	30. Chapter 30

Shutting the door to his car TJ stretched, briefcase in hand. Today had been a particularly long day at the firm and he was looking forward to coming home all day. He loosened his tie and messed his overly neat hair to restore a sense a freedom. He loved his job as a lawyer and everything, (setting things straight and doing the right thing was in his blood), but that did not mean he was immune to bad days. Besides, what was at home beat whatever what was at work any day.

TJ flipped through his keys for the one that would unlock the house door. Bracing himself for what was inside, he unlocked and opened the door taking one step inside before being tackled.

"Daddy you're home!" Shouted a voice coming from a six year old girl. Looking down TJ watched as his legs were latched onto by not only the source of his greeting but three more very excited children or the same age. "You're early daddy….."

"That's because I couldn't wait to see you all again," He told the happy little girl. "Did you have fun with aunt Spinelli?"

"What kind of question is _that_?" Spinelli asked, coming from behind a corner holding a wide awake ten month old boy. "They always have fun with me."

"Of course," TJ said, taking the toddler from her. "Why do I even bother to ask? Thanks for babysitting Spin. Me and Robert wouldn't know what to do if you didn't."

"You'd probably hire a babysitter. But you two are so frugal with money you'd would try to get me to work for next to nothing," She said. "Philip is upstairs sleeping, and they all had a bath and dinner. Now if you don't mind, I have a husband at home too."

"Say hi to baby tooth for me," he said as she made her way out the door. They exchanged goodbyes and once she was gone he walked deeper into the house, children in tow. Because Robert wouldn't be home for a while, for the next hour TJ made a game of the kids to cleaning up their toys that were scattered around the house. While the four six-year-olds cleaned their mess, he was engaged in a very difficult game of peek-a-boo with the toddler he held in his arms.

It's been six years since his and Robert's wedding. Only a few months after their marriage they decided that they wanted a baby, and because they had asked Spinelli the same day they were married if she would be a surrogate, they knew who to go to. Because there wasn't a high chance of a pregnancy, the both of them had separate eggs fertilized and implanted with their DNA. After that it was a waiting game to see which one would result in a pregnancy, if any at all. What they didn't expect was their constant fighting for power to take place on the cellular level. Both eggs attached and grew, and the two expectant fathers were happier than they had ever been. TJ was little more happy (and according to Robert, arrogant) because the egg with his DNA had split, and split and again creating two more babies. In total they had four: one boy from Robert, and three girls from TJ.

After nine months Elizabeth, Matilda, Oliver, and Victoria were brought into the world, all screaming their heads off.

Elizabeth had her father's brown hair and freckles. She was introverted and quiet and easily entertained herself by playing alone in the corner. She often surprises her parents with how much she knows about the world of politics, but that was probably due to her wanting to be around Robert while he worked and listening to him as he talked on the phone with the other governors around the country. She wore a pink overall dress over a yellow shirt, a pair of rain boots that she never wanted to take off, and her curly hair in neat pigtails. Oliver was just like his father in every way; he was determined, strong-willed, and a little hard-headed. But he didn't argue like Robert. He persuaded like TJ and was able to make almost anyone take his side. Oliver had Robert's shaggy black hair and he had green eyes, a gene that skipped generations in Robert's family. He often wore brown shorts with a white t-shirt that was often messy from his sloppy eating habits, and a pair of tan timberlands. Oliver and Matilda often get into arguments because like Oliver, Matilda was like _her_ father in every way. She had TJ's hair, eyes, freckles, baby fat, and personality down to a tee. When she wasn't fighting with her brother she watched her siblings whenever their fathers were not around, even for a few moments. With her hair in a ponytail she donned a pair of jeans, a pink sleeveless shirt, and a pair of flip-flops. Then there was Victoria, who Robert and TJ were absolutely sure they somehow both fathered. With black, short and shaggy hair like Roberts (although that likely came from Spinelli), and TJ's freckles she looked like a mix of the two of them, especially since her eyes were heterochromatic with one eye blue and the other black. She was mild tempered, and didn't want to get into arguments at all. Instead she enjoyed playing with her dolls and beating up anyone who tried to take them away (something she inherited from Spinelli). The only people immune to her wrath were Robert and TJ. She wore a purple tutu, orange shirt, and a white pair of shoes.

"Daddy," Matilda said tugging on TJ's sleeve. "Whens king daddy coming home?" Before TJ could answer the little girls question the sound of the front door opening was heard.

"Where are my children?" Robert yelled from down the hall. The four children ran out into the hall and greeted him. "There they are!" He reached down and picked Oliver up and sat him on his shoulders. "Now, why aren't you all in bed?"

"It's not time for bed yet," said Oliver. "And we're not sleepy."

"We're wide awake!" Elizabeth said grinning.

"Well we'll see about that after I tell you a story!" Robert said, leading the kids back into the living room. "You're home early," He said once he saw TJ sitting on the couch playing with a giggle toddler.

"Yeah, we don't have any new cases yet," Said TJ. "There wasn't any reason for me to stay there so I came home early." Suddenly the loud cry came from upstairs. "Edward's awake."

"I'll go get him," Robert said, setting Oliver back down and heading up stairs. "Be right back." As he made his way upstairs Robert picked up the various toys that littered the steps. Before going into the nursery he set the toys inside the chest that sat in the hallway. Entering the room he saw the ten month old holding onto the edge of the crib as if he was waiting for Robert to appear. "You usually _like_ to sleep." He picked the crying toddler up and was immediately aware of what was causing his distress. "Let's get that diaper changed." He sat him down on the changing table and began his work. Edward and Philip were twins. Two years ago the couple decided that they wanted their family to be a little bigger, but because Spinelli was pregnant with her own children at the moment they had to find a surrogate. Because there was a disproportionate number of kids fathered between the two of them, Robert used his DNA only to create a baby. It came as a surprise when he had identical twin boys. They named them Philip and Edward.

Edward was quiet and easygoing baby that took any and every opportunity he had to sleep. Philip was as loud as Edward was quiet and didn't want to sleep at all. The two boys seemed to have a preference when it came to being cared for as well; Philip could only be calmed down and put to sleep by TJ while Edward would throw a tantrum if anyone but Robert held him. They both had blonde hair (from the surrogate mother) and green eyes.

Once Robert was done changing Edward into a clean diaper it didn't look like he was going to sleep any time soon so Robert carried him back downstairs. TJ had managed to get the other kids to sit on the couch.

"They said we were going to tell them a story," Said TJ.

"Yep," Robert said taking a seat next to his husband. "It always gets them to fall asleep. So what story do you all want to hear?"

"Tell us the story about how you and daddy met!" shouted Victoria. This was met with shouts of agreement from her siblings.

"Okay, you all seem to love that story," Roberts said laughing. "It started when he was in fourth grade and I was in the sixth. I was king of the playground back then and he was the prankster prince. Then out of nowhere he starts acting really mean towards me and I wanted to know why…."


End file.
